7 results for tag: life trials

Life Lived and Lessons Learned-4- Ken Williams

At Trader Joe's - Episode 4 – living the golden rule during the holidays: December is one of the busiest times of the year for retail stores, especially for one as popular as Trader Joe’s. Of course, keeping up with restocking shelves is vital but our customers have become accustomed to being treated as welcome guests to be served. December is a time of year when the spirit of giving and receiving is especially appreciated. The lines for our ten registers are long, and most of the customers’ carts in line are full: there is no pause, ringing up customer after customer, busy! Occasionally a customer with only two products gets in line ...

Hinds’ Feet by Stuart Segall

Life has never been a straight road for me. It has been a winding climb that has been marked by valleys of loss, stretches of loneliness, and moments where the ground beneath me felt too fragile to hold. Yet, just as often, there have been glimpses of light when I needed it most!  There were unexpected tender mercies and the quiet strength to take one more step upward when I thought I couldn’t.  My story is not one of ease, but of endurance.  In the world of psychology, I would be labeled a “survivor” profile.  One of stumbling and rising, of learning to trust the One who steadies my feet when the path at times seemed ...

Living Through a Flash Flood – Brad Jersak

A dear friend responded to the news (plural) of the day and how that news bombards us like a flash flood. He lamented, “We’re in a real mess.”We need to think about how we are going to live neck deep during the current social, political, and religious torrent. To Christians, No, we will not be ‘raptured’. That’s a 19th century fantasy based in a strange vision and a dubious interpretation of a few isolated texts. And believing we would be rescued from the world and from our greatest fears only deepened the flood in devastating ways. One simple example is the loud rapture-Christian opposition to the very peace-building Jesus called ...

God Cares For You! Greg Albrecht

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Paul wrote these words when he was in lock-down – the power of the mighty Roman Empire insisted he “stay safe at home.” Paul was social distancing whether he liked it or not.  He was in prison, or at the very least under house arrest. He had good reason to be anxious about everything in his life yet he said, “Do not be anxious about anything…”  Paul was an intelligent man. He ...

“Good Day!” What Makes It Good? – Brad Jersak

Judging Good and Bad? On any given day, life happens. We face experiences that are difficult or uplifting.And we feel feelings that are difficult or uplifting. Unfortunately, many of us (or am I alone?) associate ‘difficult’ with ‘bad’ and ‘uplifting’ with good. That’s a judgment I want to interrogate… Because the next impulse is to sort through our lives, expanding our judgments from good and bad experiences to: good and bad days, weeks, years, and decades good and bad people—individuals, groups, institutions, races, sexes good me and bad me—the ‘myself’ I prop up, beat up, rationalize or condemn. ...

Life, Dirt, Dust, Jesus Part 4 – Ken Williams

What I learned from mom and how I apply her lessons. Religious Jews criticized Jesus and his disciples for not washing their hands before eating. Jesus exposed their hypocrisy telling them they were dishonoring God with their preposterous religiosity. They created a religion that revealed their cold hearts and greed for money. They washed their hands before eating but justified their lack of support for the people who gave them life. In love, Jesus warned them dishonoring God and their parents meant they would surely die. Their worship of power and money was sucking humanity and life from them.I don’t want to dishonor my mother while sharing ...

Life, Dirt, Dust and Jesus – Part 2 – by Ken Williams

What I learned from dad and how I applied his lessons.See Life, Dirt. Dust and Jesus Part 1. Dad died April 17, 1982. His body was buried in the dirt, has returned to the dust he came from, and his bones are resting in his grave in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Shortly before he died, he predicted he would die soon after he turned 82, like his parents before him. I heard him but was reluctant to let him go and reminded him that Nancy was pregnant, and his youngest grandchild would be born in four months. He was confident, sensing Jesus’ gift of peace but assured me he would die before this grandson would breathe his breath ...