28
Feb '25
A Message From Emily 2/28/25
28
Feb '25
We just finished a Spina Bifida Clinic in Portland for Thatcher. They are able to have all his specialists come to us in one location on one day. It is super helpful for us since we need to travel to Portland, but it does make for a very long day of appointments. But really, it is the work put in during the in-between that makes progress happen in Thatcher’s life. The PT and OT appointments at home, therapies we attend, the individualized care he receives daily to keep him healthy.
This week as we finished clinic it made me think about how the same applies to our spiritual lives. We often can try to cram it all in one day a week spiritually and hope for good progress, but it is the daily spiritual tasks that are really making progress possible.
1 Corinthians 3 talks about spiritual food and the progress from spiritual milk to spiritual meat. How do we becomes more mature believers? We spend time with Jesus daily. We learn about Him, practice how to live more like Him, and study what His word says. We don’t wait for the day with the specialists like we do for clinic, but rather press forward making progress in the between.
May we continue to seek Him moment by moment.
Read more...
01
Feb '25
Small Ships, Big Impact
01
Feb '25
There is a story about a naval expedition to rescue soldiers from an embattled town on the coast of France during World War II. The town’s name was Dunkirk. Over the course of eight days, more than 800 ships, many of which were small private vessels of fishermen and other everyday people, rescued over 300,000 soldiers. This amazing occurrence is sometimes called the “Miracle of Dunkirk.”
Why do I mention this? Because so often we consider the actions that we take to not have an impact. Without those little ships, it is very likely that many of the soldiers rescued would have been captured or killed. It mattered a great deal that those ships were there, even when they weren’t large enough to ferry the whole contingent waiting on the beach or in the surf.
Any that were taken away were that many saved. If you had been on the beach that day, you wouldn’t have asked for a bigger ship, you would have been grateful to get away. These small ships had a big impact over the course of the rescue effort. I wonder, what small efforts can we do to make a big impact for God’s great rescue mission?
Read more...
29
Dec '24
Not Resolution, Re-Orientation
29
Dec '24
Many people like to come into the new year with some resolutions — often having to do with diet and exercise or some life goal. Many of those resolutions last for a short time but typically they lose the battle to entropy and are dropped by about March! This is why I think that framing our desire for change in a different way can be helpful.
Instead of resolutions, we need to reorient our lives. Most resolutions are things that go along with the way we have been doing life already. A reorientation is a bit more drastic, changing the direction of our lives. This may feel disruptive in the beginning, but if we continue on the same path with new baggage, we are still going to the same destination.
Reorientation, however, gives us a chance to shift not just the things we are carrying, but the destination of our journey. Where do I think we should orient ourselves? Towards Jesus. We should give His light and life the focus of our lives. The direction we want to go is wherever we can grow closer to Him.
Read more...