Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

The gentle breeze nudged the waves towards the smooth rocks surrounding the land. The water licked the polished surfaces as we pointed the bow of our canoe towards the landing spot in the woods. Others had already arrived and were preparing to move their crafts along the path to the open lake on the other side.

Dear Kids, From left, (baby) Nathan, Emily, John-Keith, and Luke loved the baby puppies Matthew 18:12-13  “If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? And if he finds…

What a great time we guys had a couple weeks ago as we followed John-Keith’s lead on our hiking and camping trip in West Virginia. John-Keith, Luke, Nathan, and I left the comforts of home on Thursday afternoon and traveled the 6-hour trip to Dolly Sods Wilderness. After arriving at the park at dusk, we donned all 60-75 pounds of each of our full packs and sought our first campsite. Thanks, John-Keith, for finding us something, even in the dark. This old guy was ready for some shut-eye!

This was a familiar verse to me growing up because it was put to a tune that I sang at camp when I was younger. Through the years the words have taken on more meaning. The lines of the psalm were written by the shepherd-king David as he was going through some difficult times.

Around Easter time, I decided to take our kids to the pet store to see all the cute bunnies and chicks. Before going I made them promise they would not even ask to bring any animals home. I should have made that promise myself because when I saw those cute little bunnies, I convinced myself that our albino rabbit Marshmallow needed a friend, and we came home with Marble, a cute floppy-eared black and white bunny!

The other day as I was coming in from the barn I saw a dead sparrow lying in the grass.  I do not know whether it fell from a tree or if Crystal, the cat, got it, but it made me think of this verse. Jesus was talking to His disciples, preparing them for a life of service.  He was sending them out into a hostile world to speak the truth, and He knew that they would not always be treated kindly. He did not want them to be afraid, so He reminded them that even the smallest sparrow does not fall to the ground without God's knowing and allowing it to happen.