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I have been married a little over six years so it has not been too long since I was navigating the sometimes perilous waters of dating. One dating experience came to mind this morning, and it prompted me to launch a new blog feature "Pearls of Wisdom." From time to time I will share practical life experiences and observations that may be useful to those who read them. The Date I don't remember his name. What I do remember is that he was a well-respected teacher, outwardly financially stable, intelligent, and good looking. We had communicated for a bit and decided on a date. He enjoyed cooking and invited me to share one of his home-cooked meals. His home was neat and inviting. His home had a wood-burning fireplace and there was a cozy fire burning. Engaging and pleasant, he easily kept the conversation going. As I watched him cook, he explained that a bit of orange juice helped bring out the flavor of spinach (a tip I have continued to use).  I found myself wondering &quo

Last week I wrote about how grateful I am for the mercy of God. When I look back at my life, there were so many opportunities where I could have made better choices. So much of the pain that I have experienced was because of decisions I made. Even after I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I kept making mistakes. I wanted to do better but kept repeating the same patterns. Tears and prayers, tears and prayers were a cycle that I knew needed to be broken. Here's the wonderful part: God saw and heard that I wanted to change. Through His guidance, I sought out a Christian counselor and that was the beginning of understanding why I was making certain choices, and that I had the power to get off the destructive "hamster wheel" that I had been on for so long. I discovered that I had been "programmed" to believe certain things about myself that were in direct conflict with how God sees me. The counselor pointed me to Scriptures (the Bible) that helped me see that "I am

Today is an absolutely beautiful Sunday. The sky is a clear spring blue, the sun is shining and a light breeze is making every breath fresh and exhilarating. It's the kind of day that makes me smile and reminds me of God's mercy and grace. Mercy, in the biblical sense, is God's divine decision to not give us what we deserve. To avoid sounding "preachy," I am going to make it personal. God did not give me what I deserved. For so many years I attended church, was active in the church, but was not really living a lifestyle that reflected God's standards for living. I was "picking and choosing" the parts of the Bible that fit what I wanted to do, and making excuses for my actions that were in contradiction with biblical teaching. I was also very good at seeing, and pointing out, the "speck" in someone else's eye while ignoring the "beam" that was in mine (Matthew 7: 3).  God showed me mercy. He did not "throw me away"

Faith (belief in God and His power to transform) is the foundation upon which every Believer stands. I once heard someone say "Faith is what makes 'hope' real," and that simple statement resonated with me. Mark 10: 46-52 tells of a man that had faith, and his faith kept him focused when the people around him tried to silence his cries for help. Jesus was leaving Jericho and a large number of people were following him. A blind man was sitting by the highway begging (in those days, the blind who had no one to care for them had to depend on the kindness of others to survive). The blind man heard that Jesus of Nazareth was in the crowd. This news immediately changed his focus. His calls for alms (donations) ceased. He began to yell out "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me."  For some reason, the people who could have helped the blind man get to Jesus, decided that the blind man had no right to draw attention to himself. The Bible says "and many charged hi