We’re doing the best we know how to do. We take the cards we are dealt and do the best we can. And some of us have been dealt some pretty crappy cards. Some of us have personal and extended family histories that include abuse, extreme poverty, infidelity, divorce, addiction, emotional abandonment, family secrets, untimely deaths, crime, instability, and a whole host of other stories. Our family stories influence who we are and how we are in the world.
And they do not have to define us.
I’m not sure how long this book has been on my shelf. I’m not even sure where it came from. It’s small, about the size of my hand, and thin. Not much to it. And yet it for sure packs a spiritual punch. One Faithful Promise, by Magrey R. deVega, is a must read forContinue reading “Book Review: One Faithful Promise”
The Grace-Filled Life: 52 Devotions to Warm Your Heart and Guide Your Path was something I picked up several years ago, intending to maybe use it for a small group or something. This year, however, I tried to commit to reading only books already on my shelf, and this was one I wanted to get to.
Cymbals in a drumline are great, but a bunch of clanging cymbals in my home and heart are annoying and just too much.
This year, I’m using the Present Over Perfect Guided Journal. I read Shauna Neiquist’s Present Over Perfect book when it came out a few years ago and so much of it just connected with me. When I saw she had created a journal, I knew it was right for this season of my life. The journal has smallContinue reading “Being (un)Favored Part 2”
Last night I sat in the auditorium of my youngest son’s school. He completed fifth grade, the last of my children to walk the halls of that school. It was the end of an era. I cried, remember all the great things about our 11 years at that school. Six of my kids went thereContinue reading “What Do I Even Say”
This post is an edited manuscript of a sermon I gave at Grace UMC and Bethel UMC in Salisbury, NC on Palm Sunday 2022. Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. 2 You are being saved throughContinue reading “Hold on to the Hosannas”
Worship is about picking up the toys, doing the paperwork, cooking the food, finishing the homework, answering the phone calls, and serving others with an attitude that is glorifying to God, that is grateful and honoring.
God knew that when times got tough again, the people would falter, would doubt their God, would find it easier to place their trust in the ways of the culture than the ways of God. And yes, when times were so bad, that even the rushing waters of the river seemed dried up, there would be a deeply revealed reminder of God’s deep love.
Too often, I think we married folks take out our bad days on our spouse. We yell at him, ignore her, demand this, whine about that and overall just act unpleasant and un-graced-filled.
Rev. Kris Mares