An Invitation

These are the words of Jesus in Matthew 11, verses 28 through 30 from the Message:

Are your tired?  

Worn out?  

Burned out on religion?  

Come to me.  

Get away withy me and you'll recover your life.  

I'll show you how to take a real rest.  

Walk with me and work with me -- 

watch how I do it.  

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  

I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. 

 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

Here are some questions for you as you meditate on this invitation:

What does Jesus ask you?

What does He offer you?

What are the results of coming to Him?

So Happy Together

Here's a perfect Saturday song, a what-a-good-day-we-had-yesterday song, an I'm-glad-I-married-you song.

February 25, 1989

Photo from Seattle Times

We've seen some crazy weather in the Puget Sound region this month, windy days, rainy days, sunny days, snowy days.  Schools have been closed and cars have piled up or landed in ditches.  It reminds me of another memorable February -- 1989.  Only that year the thing I most remember was ice.

In August of 1988, when Tom and I got engaged, we chose February 25 for our wedding.  We'd be married at 1:00 at Seattle First Free Methodist Church, near the campus of Seattle Pacific University, on the north side of Queen Anne Hill.  We mailed out our invitations and made our preparations.

February arrived with a vengeance, bringing with it low temperatures and lots of snow.  Lots and lots of snow!  It would warm up during the day, only to freeze again at night, covering the roads with ice, making travel treacherous.

We wondered if anyone would be able to make it to our wedding.

February 25 was a beautiful day.  The snow on the ground was no threat, nor was there any problem with ice.  Much to our delight, the church was packed!

There was a remodel going on in the building which required people to pass through a long, relatively narrow hallway that sloped from the first to the second floor.  It must have been warm in the long, slow line that took people from the sanctuary to the reception.  I think it must have made them thirsty.  Weeks after we returned from our honeymoon a friend said, "It was so cool that you served water at your reception!"  This was an error that could not be ignored.

"We didn't serve water!  We served punch!  Tom and I bought the ingredients ourselves -- we know we served punch!"

"Well, by the time I got there it was water," she replied!

Jimmy Doolittle's Story

Jonna Doolittle Hoppes was disturbed by the depiction of her grandfather, General Jimmy Dolittle, in the original script of the movie, Pearl Harbor.  So she worked with Disney to clean up the character whom she knew to be a very different man than the one portrayed.  Out of that effort came the book Calculated Risk, The Extraordinary Life of Jimmy Doolittle, Aviation Pioneer and World War II Hero: a Memoir, published in 1950.

This video shares the story of her grandfather, an amazing story that bears telling.  But it also is a call to people to share their history with others.  Check out this post or go to StoryCorps' website for ideas on how you might share your own story with your loved ones. 

In the Presence of Friends

Yesterday afternoon I got to spend time with some of my most lovely friends, and they live at the Warm Beach Senior Community.

Meet my friends Gladys, Nita, Betty, John, Ruby, Leona

I used to see them on Tuesdays as the Intercessors group met to pray for the needs of the church family.  If you really want to get to know someone, spend some time praying together.  I know these folks to be wise, tenderhearted, and full of compassion, friends of God, and confident in His desire to answer prayer.  Some of those prayers were for me and my family as well.  How many times, I wonder, did this group surround me when I was the one in need of prayer?  

A year or two ago our group disbanded, leaving me little opportunity to see these friends.  So Nita and I decided we needed to visit them at the Senior Community.  We arrived to find them all seated in the alcove of Cedar Court, walkers parked near by.  Over coffee and goodies, we chatted about world travels, missions, grandchildren, and family connections.

All of our friends are in their 90s.  None is free of health problems, yet they are gracious people, joy-filled and quick to encourage.  John and Ruby, who spent many years in China and the Philippines as missionaries, opened their home to international students upon their return to Seattle.  Leona lost her husband as a young wife, raised her son alone, and spent many years as a teacher and a missionary.  Later she married my grandma's cousin.  Betty was a school cook at Coe Elementary in Seattle where she and her husband raised three delightful daughters, all friends of mine.  She exemplifies Paul's words, "in everything give thanks."  Gladys and her pharmacist husband operated a drug store for 30 years. After his death she set off for Burundi (on her 65th birthday!) to work in a dispensary; she spent most of the next eight years in Africa.

They all have lived their lives to serve God and others; I am honored to call them friends.

Car Shopping

The only new car I ever purchased was in 1973.  I had just taken a teaching job 40 miles from home and suddenly I found myself in desperate need of a car.  Dad drove me to Roy Robinson Chevrolet, where I perused the car lot.  The apple green Vega caught my eye, but it had a standard transmission.  I kept looking.   Here's how I became the proud owner of a brand new car:

A salesman approaches.  "See anything you like?"

"Well, the Vega's pretty cute, but I can't drive a stick shift."

"Let's give it a look.  You know it's just $2000!"

"Yes, that's a great price, but I don't want to buy it."

"It's a good looking car.  Do you want to sit in it?"

"Well, I can sit in it, but I'm not going to buy it."

I sit down.  It's quite comfortable, even with my long legs.

"What do you think?"

"It feels good, but I'm not going to buy it."

"Would you like to take it for a spin?"

"Well, I do like it, but I can't drive a stick shift."

"Why don't you have your dad drive and just see what you think?"

So Dad and I climb into the car and head to a country road between Marysville and Snohomish, Dad driving.  When there are no other cars in sight he stops in the middle road and comes around to my side.  "Now you try it."

I don't move.  "I'm not driving this car."

"You're thinking about buying this car!  You need to drive it and see if you like it!"

I don't budge.  "Well, I'm not driving it now!"

Eventually Dad gives up and slides back under the steering wheel.  We drive home in silence.  When we pull into the driveway my 17-year-ol brother Ted comes bounding out of the house.  "Cool car!  May I drive it?"

Ted and Mom climb in.  Ted drives to the high school parking lot; he's having a great time!  Finally he stops the car and it's my turn.  I make a few circles in the empty lot, shifting gears several times as I accelerate and slow down, killing the engine in my attempts.  Dad drops Mom off at home and drives Ted and me to the car lot.

"I'll take it!" Stunned, Ted and Dad look at me, mouths open.

I sign the papers, put down my money, get behind the wheel of my very own car and jerk my way back home!

How to Read the Bible

If you look to the Bible for answers to your deepest needs, you will not find them.  But if you look to Jesus, you will find the answers to your deepest needs in the Bible.  Jesus warns against putting our faith in the Bible rather than in Him: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.  These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (John 5:39-40).  I love the Bible.  I treasure it. I delight in it.  In the Scriptures I hear the voice of the One I treasure, the One in whom I delight, the One my soul loves.  When I open my Bible, this prayer is in my heart:  "Show me your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely" (Song of Solomon 2:14).


If you read God's Word as if it were a book of rules or a textbook, or even a book of wisdom, your soul will not be fed.  If you come to His Word as the meeting place between your heart an His, "[your] soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods" (Psalm 63:5).

Jennifer Kennedy Dean in

Legacy of Prayer: 

A Spiritual Trust Fund for the Generations