Monthly Archives: May 2026

The Blessing of a Backup

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are
Abbie Johnson Taylor.

and

Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me.

Book w/missing pages in the middle



Anyone who uses a computer knows the feeling. You’ve been working on a document & you suddenly realize that all or part of it is gone. Absolutely nowhere to be seen. You reopen the original, hoping the missing part will be there, but you saved the damaged document already, so it’s history. Your heart sinks to your toes. The last meal you ate is now headed in the wrong direction. You wanna cry. Maybe you do cry.

That happened to me this last Thursday. Rarely do cybersecurity professionals take their own advice, but I had emailed this particular manuscript to my writer’s group before its dissolution. I had a backup! Yay!

It felt a little like finding a $20 bill in my drawer or something. Truthfully, it felt like a smile of salvation. I’ll be much more cognisant of my backups from now on–until I’m not. I’m surely grateful to the Dear Lord for the help.

Scripture says “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37 ESV

He probably will not produce a backup you didn’t make yourself, so make sure you back up often. But if you’ve got 1 lying around somewhere, He’ll bring it to your mind like He did w/me. Do what you need to do, and He’ll take care of the rest.

Many blessings for your week.

The Blessing of Being clean

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are

Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me,

and

Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Pristine snowy field

Last week I hauled in a grocery delivery from Walmart. It was really hot out there. By time I got done, I was sweaty, smelly, and hot. All I wanted was a good shower. It felt so good afterwards. I was so grateful for that shower.

Isaiah 1:18 tells us: “The Lord says, “Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool.”

By Jesus’s death on the cross, God takes away both our sins and our sin. We come before Him clean. And it feels amazing! The cool thing is we can do it every hour of every day. We are no longer guilty and ashamed. Rather, we are His beloved sons and daughters. We can come to him, our daddy, whenever we wish, and He will joyfully receive us like the loving father He is.

The Blessing of Doing Your Best

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are
Abbie Johnson Taylor
and
Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me.

Jesus in white robe, ascending into Heaven

This past week, on May 14, in fact, Christians celebrated the ascension of Jesus into heaven. I been thinking a lot lately about what that meant. He was leaving a very fragile seed, His church, to blossom and grow in hostile soil. He knew–he had to know–we’d screw it up. He knew we’d disappoint him, likely on a daily basis, assuredly many times a day. And yet, he let go, asking us to co-create with Him down here while He did whatever He needed to do from on high.

I often wonder why in the world He’d do that. And the only thing I can come up with is that if we are going to reign with Him in Heaven, we need to learn how to do that on Earth. Now, me, I think he could just have a heavenly school where we could bypass all the stuff that happens down here. But it seems He disagrees, and He definitively wins!

I’ve been battling a problem with our bank for a couple weeks. This week I was finally able to move things forward, and I decided to simply let events happen. There really isn’t much I can do. It’s a mixed bag. It feels good to finally quit hassling with it on the day-to-day, but not very good knowing I’m not in control. I didn’t give up control particularly willingly. The bank did that for me. Jesus, on the other hand, did surrender control to us. Does He intervene on our behalf? Assuredly. But He also gave us free will, and in large part, allows us to exercise it, whether or not our choices are those He would want us to make.

Often times I hear Christians complain–and I’ve done it a number of times myself–why doesn’t God just tell us what He wants from us? All I can do is answer that He already tried that w/the Israelites in the Old Testament. We all know how well that turned out. He appeared to them in a cloud by day, in fire by night. They knew what He wanted from them. They worshipped a golden calf instead, and He at last established a new covenant with humankind by means of His death on the cross.

Most people who walk this earth won’t be remembered long. All we can hope for is that some small action of ours, something we said or did, will turn someone toward God, and that they in turn did likewise. Often we don’t even know when we’ve done that because the action to us seemed so insignificant. And maybe that’s why we have to learn here on earth that the one who is faithful in very small things is also faithful in much, because sometimes that small thing can turn into something very big, while we’re none the wiser.

Luke 16:10 puts it thus: “Suppose you can be trusted with something very little. Then you can also be trusted with something very large. But suppose you are not honest with something very little. Then you will also not be honest with something very large.”
NIV

I pray that I can be more like Jesus, doing the best I can and then be content to put it in God’s hands, because that is, after all, where all my hopes and dreams will ultimately come to fruition.

The Blessing of Motherhood

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are
Abbie Johnson Taylor

and

Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me,

Mother’s Day is, for many, 1 of those days that evokes positive images at every turn. If something’s good, it might be described as being American as motherhood and apple pie, although the last time I checked motherhood was present in every country of the world. Church attendance ticks up. Restaurants burst at the seams as they try to accommodate the many Mother’s Day parties.

And yet it’s a day that’s often frought. Fertility issues, difficult mother-child relationships, and mothers who’ve lost children can make the day particularly hard as joy seems to swirl all about those impacted by these problems. They may feel very lonely and alone because they don’t want to dampen the celebratory mood surrounding them by acknowledging their grief.

Unlike days of yore, when a woman’s worth basically consisted of how many children she had, today’s understanding of motherhood has broadened. Whether or not one has children, one can birth something–ideas, books, inventions, or they can help someone else achieve their dreams. Even Jesus portrays Himself as a mother:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34)

If your relationship with your mother was a good one, think about some particularly good times and be grateful. If not, remember God is not only your Father but also your Mother. Think about those times when He showed himself to be such. And then go out into the world and be a mother to someone around you, no matter your gender. To those mothers who’ve lost a child, take time to cherish good memories. To those moms who gave children up for adoption, know that you likely did the very best you could for them at that time of your life.

Also, thank God for your mother, no matter the relationship between you, because she gave you life. And if someone else served as your mother, even though you were not her flesh and blood, be grateful for that, too, because she may well have saved your life, or at least helped you to become a good person.

Yes, Mother’s Day can be hard, but motherhood is co-creating with God, and that is, after all, what we were put here to do.

Lord, please help us to co-create with You every day we live. Help us rejoice in the tasks You’ve given us to do. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

The blessing of Connection

Song at Midnight Posted on by

Hello, and welcome to another blessing Sunday. Traveling with me on this path are

Lynda Lambert who shared the idea with me,
and Abbie Johnson Taylor

Cell phone charging

You know what happens when you forget to charge your cell phone. You can’t call anyone, you can’t text anyone, you can’t play your music while you’re on the go. It’s not nearly as earth-shattering as some would have you believe, (there are those who don’t even have a cell phone, after all), but it can be disconcerting at best, and life-threatening at worst.

Just like a cell phone needs a connection to power in order to recharge, people need connection as well. Monday is the first meeting w/my Word Weavers’ Writer’s group, called Page 53, where I’ll actually be fully participating. Last month I kind of just sat back and observed, obeying what my spiritual dad Rev. Lloyd Mattson used to say frequently, “Never miss an opportunity to shut up.”

I also joined a Facebook group this week called Biblical Fiction Aficionados, and I posted to them today about my audio book offering group members a free copy via a private link.

I am a dyed-in-the-wool, 100% confirmed, introvert. This sort of thing is very hard for me. But I know that connection and community is the key to growth.

Gen 2:18 says: “The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
NIV

Though the context indicates God said this about men, it’s equally applicable to women as well. The church, indeed, is described as Christ’s body. Those of us who call ourselves Christians acknowledge that we are part of His body, and therefore connected to every other Christian. So, hard or not, it’s necessary, and I’m sure my life will be blessed by these new connections. I hope I can in some small way enrich their lives as well.

Lord, help me hear your voice through the new friends I’m making, and help me speak your truth to them as well. Thank you. In Jesus’s name, Amen.