Does everybody in Psalms have brown hair?

Eight-year-old grandboy




"Mary asked the angel, 'How can this happen?'" 
(Luke 1:34)

Our Rebecca recently posted an amusing question on Instagram from her eight-year-old, "Mom, does everybody in the book of Psalms have brown hair?"

Fall small groups kick off next week, and I'm excited about leading a young women's Bible study. We'll spend half our study time answering the girls' questions: "What does the Bible say about __________?"

Got questions, beloved? Search for answers in the Bible. For "all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." (2 Timothy 3:16) 

Read more...

Faith in the Furnace

Old North Church
Boston, MA

"Look!" Nebuchadnezzar shouted. "I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a son of the gods!" (Daniel 3:25)

I love the Old Testament book of Daniel. I love Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego's unshakable faith in the midst of a fiery furnace. I love Jesus for walking with them through the hot, blazing flames and bringing them out unscathed not even smelling of smoke. 

Lord, I sit on the sidelines today, watching dearly loved ones maneuver an excruciating fiery furnace. Give them unshakable faith, dear Jesus, and bring 'em out unharmed not even smelling of smoke!

Read more...

Rested, Refreshed, and Raring to Go

"Guardian" of the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel
Boston, MA

"Now finish the work, so that you may complete it just as eagerly as you began..." (2 Corinthians 8:11)



We're home from our 40th anniversary trip rested, refreshed, and raring to go!

Raring to see the kids and grands.

Raring to get back to God's work.

Raring to lead the fall small group for single, young women: "Refreshed in His Story."

Raring to feed little lambs and flocks with the newly released A Willowkins Christmas Story. Yep, it's out! I know it's a bit early for a Christmas story, but as our three-year-old grandboy would say, "Check it out." Online store, page 2 at deepseapublishing.com

Are you chomping at the bits and raring to go, beloved? Rest in the Lord. Refresh in His word. Then go forth in Jesus name!

Read more...

Because we're from Alabama and we don't know what we're doing.

The Freedom Trail
Boston, MA

"You will make known to me the path of life..." (Psalm 16:11a)



"Where are you going, ma'am?" 

"Terminal A," I answered.

"You're on the wrong bus. You need to get on the bus behind this one."

"Thank you!"

~

"Why are you in this line?"

"Because we're from Alabama and we don't know what we're doing," I answered.

Smile. "You need to go to the TSA pre-check line over there. It's much faster."

"Thank you!"

~

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for kind people and signs pointing the way we should go at Logan International Airport. And thank You for Your Word and the Holy Spirit making known to us the path of life!

Read more...

The Flume

The Flume trail
Franconia Notch State Park
White Mountains, New Hampshire



"As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God." Psalm 42:1

Read more...

His Name in Vain

tandem bike ride along Ocean Ave.
 (background) President George H.W. Bush Maine summer home





"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in 
vain, for the LORD will  not leave him unpunished 
who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7)

The musical play, Ragtime, was an anticipated highlight of our 40th anniversary trip. Although the music and vocals were superb, a couple of expletives made us squirm and a blast of the LORD's name in vain shot us out of our seats not to return for Act 2.

Today, we're off to Maine's Smiling Hill Dairy Farm. Surely to goodness, the cows will mind their manners, guard their tongues, and honor the Lord we love.

Beloved, no entertainment trumps honoring God. Turn it off for heaven's sake and yours!!!

Read more...

Focus

Kennebunkport, Maine




"Set your mind..." (Colossians 3:2)

Celebrating 40 wondrous years as Mrs. Phillip Glassco.

Today my mind is set on him.

Got a mate, mate? Take time to focus on your honey.

Read more...

Guest writer: Wonder

Our WONDERful grands, yesteryear





"Remember the wonders He has performed, His miracles..." 
(1 Chronicles 16:12)

Never lose your wonder of God, beloved!

Guest writer: Rebecca Glassco Figert

Did you know that kindergarten, a German word, means “children’s garden”?

You see, I volunteer to help with lunch at my kids’ school on Fridays. I’ve only done it twice this year, but it’s reminded me how much I love kindergarteners! They have pure wonder. If I could, I would bottle up their wonder in a flask and study its components. A five-year old’s wonder is simply mesmerizing, beautiful, and mystifying.

And yes, this next statement is depressing, but it’s true. By the end of this year, the kindergarteners’ wonder and zeal will have changed and they will have more structure and parameters, a compartment per se, for the wonder that was once so boundless. Their awe will be a tiny bit watered down and less concentrated. And yet, that’s the process of growing up.

Granted, we need to grow into adults who know the difference between fiction and fact, fears and reality. It’s healthy. It’s natural. However, I do mourn the gradual loss of wonder. Little by little, I’ve seen my own kids grow up.  And it’s different. It’s good. But a little sad.

How do we grow children in the garden of life without tainting their natural wonder? Maybe the answer to that question has more to do with us, the parent. If we can recover our own child-like wonder, there’s hope for our children.

Read more...

Heads Stuck in a Cereal Box

L-R My beloved friend, Dawn, me, and my beloved friend, Debora





"But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture." (Malachi 4:2)

My friends and I, along with a bajillion other Americans, had our heads stuck in a cereal box yesterday as we watched the rare solar eclipse. Even though the moon blocked 93% of the sun, our neck of the woods was amazingly bright, which goes to show that a sliver of sunlight commandingly displaces the darkness.

And so it is with the SON - a sliver of Jesus puts darkness to flight.

So rise up, beloved, and leap with joy. Jesus, the Light, shines in darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish Him! (John 1:5) For you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won the victory, because the Spirit of Jesus who lives in you is greater than the spirit of darkness who lives in the world! (1 John 4:4)

Read more...

Nothin' to Worry About

Our Ben, Gabbi, and little bit (one-year-old grandboy)





"Don't worry about anything...Tell God...and thank Him..." (Philippians 4:6)

Saturday, I climbed aboard the jet ski behind Granddaddy and three-year-old grandboy.

Three-year-old grandboy encouraged, "Now, there's nothin' to worry about, Memaw. It's just a jet ski."

~

On a wild-trouble ride and barely hangin' on, beloved? Now, there's nothing to worry about, dear heart. It's just life.

Jesus said, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what [glorious things] God has prepared for those who love Him!" (1 Corinthians 2:9)

"...there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain..." (Revelation 21:4)

"That's why we never give up...For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever!" (2 Corinthians 4:14-18)

Read more...

Scorched

Coosa River Farm





"And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away." (Mark 4:6)

Our summertime campfire grew a bit too hot and scorched half of  a nearby pine tree. But because deep roots connect it to the vital source of water and nutrients, my superman, forester Phillip, predicts the tree will survive and rebound. 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus began to teach a very large crowd gathered at the seashore. 

"Listen," He said. "Behold, the sowers went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Others seed fell on the rocky ground where it immediately sprang up but it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns that came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

As soon as Jesus was alone with His disciples, He explained, "The sower sows the word of God. When some hear the word, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown. Others hear the word and immediately receive it with joy, but because they are ungrounded and not rooted, the word withers away when scorched by affliction or persecution. Others hear the word, but the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things choke the word and make it unfruitful. Yet others hear the word and accept it into good hearts and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

Problems or worries or deceptions or desires scorching the life out of you, beloved? Survive. Rebound. Stay rooted in God's word and in God's arms, your Source for today, tomorrow, and forever.

"For if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things  [withered and] passed away; behold, [living, growing, fruitful] new things have come."  (2 Cor. 5:17)

Read more...

Lost and Found

Our Mandy and grandboy #4

"If a man has 100 sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?" (Luke 15:4)

Somewhere around our house or the river cabin or the park, we lost grandboy #4's little tennis shoes, so we're headed to the store to buy another pair.

In Luke 15, Jesus told three stories - the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and finally, the parable of the lost son - to make the crucial point that God dearly loves and untiringly and painstakingly goes after His lost children - people separated from Him, Father God, by unforgiven sin.

Therefore, God sent Jesus. "For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost." (Luke 19:10) "For everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." (Romans 10:13)

So, beloved, "we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins." (Ephesians 5:6-7) "He delivered us from so great a deadly peril...and we have set our hope on Him!" (2 Corinthians 1:10)

Read more...

Blame Game

L-R my boys, Dan and Ben, 1988




The man replied, "It was the woman You gave me who 
gave me the fruit, and I ate it." (Genesis 3:12)

"Mama," cried Dan, "Ben kicked me!"

"You kicked me first," said Ben.

"Yeah, but I missed!"

~

Too often I hear God blamed for bad things.
Beloved, never confuse the consequences of
man's sin and rebellion with the actions of God!
For this is how much God loved the world and you:
He gave His one and only Son,

Jesus, 

so that everyone who believes in Him will not
perish but have eternal life!

Read more...

Seabound

Grandgirl 2015





"Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16:3)

Several years ago, God said, "Write her story."

I wrote The Schoolhouse.

Afterward, I said, "I'll keep writing, Lord, as long as you keep supplying the stories."

God is faithful.

Even before the fall release of A Willowkins Christmas Story, the framework for next year's Seabound is already sketched across the storyboard.

Put God in charge of your work, beloved. Let Him make the plans and help you complete the job.

Read more...