Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Matthew 13:9) On Saturday, July 13th, the devil used a confused young man to carry out an act that forever changed our nation. As former President Donald J. Trump took the stage at a Butler, PA campaign rally, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at him from the rooftop of …
This post is going to be different than my usual fare. It’s going to be raw and painful, so reader beware. Nevertheless, the story needs telling. As hard as it may be to believe, David and I have had some pretty strong disagreements, and everything is not always as perfect as it may appear in …
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6) It’s no secret that David and I have spent much time modernizing and upgrading his VA Beach home to sell or eventually rent it. Overall, we have spent …
Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. – Psalm 119:18 For as long as I can remember, I’ve had “bad eyes.” Translation? I have less than stellar vision – and that’s putting it mildly. I’ll never forget the time an optometrist told me that I was as “blind as a …
While researching my 2015 trip to Italy with my mother, I was intrigued by the images I saw of the ancient hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio (pronounced “chee-vee-tah dee bahg-no-rej-e-o”). This mysterious village, situated on top of a steep hilltop, is known as the “dying city” since the clay turf that supports the city …
And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) For decades, I’ve always felt a kindred unity with St. Francis, the patron saint of Italy, nature, and animals. While my initial fondness for St. Francis began after hearing the simple …
“You turned my mourning into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” (Psalm 30:11) David and I are blessed to have traveled to Puerto Rico to celebrate our first wedding anniversary on March 12th. In Spanish, we can now say, “Nos casamos el año pasado.” Translation? “We got married last year!” With …
You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (Isaiah 62:3) As David and I approached our first wedding anniversary, I couldn’t help but be struck anew by the depth of our affection and dedication to one another. We genuinely …
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13) For most of my life, Valentine’s Day was a somber reminder of how unloved I always felt. Visits to the store around this holiday always made me feel like I was the oddball, never knowing what …
In my last post, I wrote about the one-week jaunt David and I took to San Diego, CA. What I haven’t shared yet is how the Devil tried to attack us and steal our joy along the way. Satan is tricky. There’s no doubt about that. Sometimes, the bombs he throws at us are debilitating and …