showtunessal

Tag: children

  • The Still Within

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    The Still Within I am the good shepherd. . . . My sheep know my voice, and I know them. —John 10: 14, 27 In my mind today, I’m thinking of the hectic past month. I’m missing my silent morning moments. It makes me think of one of my favorite English teachers Ms. Marjorie Neal.…

  • Crosses

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    Whew! Crosses! “Do not worry about . . . what you are to say” (Luke 12:11). In my mind lately, I’ve wanted to write and to share but I haven’t found the words, time, or energy. I’m still here fighting to empty myself for what really matters. Well, students I’m am definitely running on empty…

  • Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

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    Won’t You Be My Neighbor? “Lord, help me overcome my biases. I want to be able to see you in every person I meet.” As I read my devotional this morning, I smiled thinking of the message. I remembered as a child watching the PBS program Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood and singing along. Decades later I…

  • Intercessors

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    Intercessors They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come. (Luke 7:4) Many times I ponder why I’m still here. My mother’s sister began falling at age 38. We said goodbye to her at the age of 43. Doctors had no clue why she wasting away so fast. At her death, the diagnosis was not…

  • Flourish

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    Your faith flourishes ever more. (2 Thessalonians 1:3) The past two weeks have been valleys. I trudged through them and at some points begged for an end to my time here. The struggles of my family to care for me and the expense medically to be here weighed on me. Where was my faith in…

  • Aches and Pains

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    Morning, noon, and night I cry out in my distress, and the Lord hears my voice. —Psalm 55: 17 (NLT) Today is one of my pity party days. My body is crying out in distress. I think every inch of me has an ache. The super, quick road trip to Vanderbilt in Nashville and back…

  • Eternal Home

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    “God . . . has planted eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3: 11 NLT). When I was born, my family lived on Perry Circle in our small town. Although it was part of our government housing authority or the “Jets” or “The West Side,” it was home. My mother was so grateful for indoor…

  • Choices

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    We all have choices. These are what shape our lives. As a teenager: Do we avoid the happening parties of our youth because we want to keep ourselves from smoking pot or drinking underage? Do we risk our reputation of being cool? Do we risk awakening a demon of addiction to fit in with the…

  • Teacher, we wish to see a sign. (Matthew 12:38)

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    Ah, today is the beginning of a new school year in my little town of West Tennessee. It’s the week of inservice before the students begin. I had twenty years of inservice before my health forced me to retire. The excitement of it always made me giddy. Inservice can be such a dirty word. Teachers…

  • Dust

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    Last week the verse “And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” haunted me. I tried to interpret it into my own being. I have this flaw within me that wants to help and give until it…