Toastmasters Did This to Me!
So, by now, you’re probably wondering about the blog marathon I’ve been on. I feel like the “Mad Hatter”, only I’m the Mad Blogger. Not to mention, you're probably sick of hearing from me. I don't blame you. Shoot! I'm sick of hearing from me! But there’s a reason for the madness and here it is… I belong to Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a US headquartered nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaki
Jonah and Pandora's Box! Part 3: When Unforgiveness Steals your Anointing
On October 31, 2000, I noticed a white car slowly pass my house. The car turned up the next street and circled back around in front of my house. It did this several times. An hour later, I heard the crunch of gravel and saw the white car in my driveway. I didn’t recognize the driver or the passenger in the front seat, but when the passenger in the back stepped out, I knew her. Rita was the oldest daughter of one of the lay ministers at our church and my sister-in-law. She kno
What Would Jonah Do? Part 2: Forgiveness
Honestly, until the last five years, I didn’t know the book of Jonah was more than a book about what happens when you disobey God and His man in charge down here, the pastor. The theme of Jonah isn’t see-I-told-you-so like I thought. Rather, it was a question God had for Jonah that really was a question for Israel that is really a question for us today: Can you forgive your worst enemy? We first meet Jonah in 2 Kings chapter 14, where he is called to be a prophet and sent by
What if Jonah Died? Part 1: It's Possible!
Did Jonah die when the sailors threw him overboard, or did he pull a Bear Grylls and find an air pocket, eat sushi, and chug seaweed shakes for three days and nights while waiting for extraction? Honestly, it would make better sense if he did and here’s why. The scripture teaches that except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. What if the miracle of Jonah wasn’t that he lived, but that he died and was res
Hope Like a Fiddlehead
As a child, the sighting of the emerald-green fiddlehead was like the aligning of the planets as it chiseled its way through the hard soil to announce winter had passed and spring had sprung. The fern on my porch reminds me of the relentless Maine winters, where the snow would fall as early as October and stay as late as June, where the true sing of spring was not a day marked on the calendar, but the true sign of spring was and is the emerald-green fiddlehead. All ferns have
