King David wrote in Psalm 8:3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You set in place…

David’s “stopping to consider,” led him to deeper questions. He wondered, What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

I guess he wondered why God would care for people when the universe was so magnificent. I wonder that myself sometimes.

After learning that my name means “dweller in the valley,” I head out to walk my usual early morning route, up the street from my house and into our neighborhood city park.

Alone today, I can notice my thoughts and surroundings attentively.

The sun is already up, bright and mid-horizon with a cloudless sky overhead and my mind is full of “dweller in the valley” thoughts.

What might it be like to dwell in a valley?

Walking into the new Mexican restaurant today, I saw my friend, and smiled a hearty greeting! After hugging hello and deciding what to eat, we got down to catching up on our lives since we last got together a few months ago. We talked and ordered and talked and got our food and talked while we ate, and finally, I asked the question I’d been eager to ask:

“So, have you found your word for 2024?”

She laughed warmheartedly and replied with a grin, “I knew you would ask, and yes! I am ready with my word.”

I pulled out my pen and scribbled her words on the little notebook I kept in my purse.

When I was a young girl, my mother gave me a small note card on which she had written the Lord’s Prayer.

Using her black Flair felt-tipped pen, she had written: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…

She encouraged me to memorize this prayer and say it at church during the liturgy, which I did, and have said hundreds of times since.

But this morning, I found myself praying that phrase again, “Thy kingdom come.”

As I spoke it out, I wondered, What am I asking when I pray it?

Maybe I’m asking:

Jesus, come back soon and be our king!

Let me be a part of your kingdom work here and now today!

God, please come back and set the world right!

Maybe it means all these things.

I need a dog today.

A small one will do; one that fits comfortably in my lap. 

She could be brown and furry, or black with dark eyes, soft and sleepy.

I close my eyes and see her, feel her warmth, and find her presence reassuring. 

With bright eyes, Oliver shouted, “Grandma, look at all the buckeyes!”

And indeed, a bumper crop had fallen. I told him that every fall, for years, I walked by these trees, and picked up a few delightful seeds to put in a bowl or on a shelf. It was like picking up colorful leaves or dried wildflowers, a true sign of fall. Finding them felt like we were happening upon abundant treasure.

With much excitement, he took charge, “Let’s take some home!”

Just this morning, I heard on the radio, that we Americans are finding fewer peaches in our stores this summer. Warm weather in the South and cold weather in the Midwest knocked out a significant number of our nation’s peach crops, leaving shortages across the country. Georgia’s production is down 90-95% and South Carolina’s is down 60-70%. California, on the other hand, is producing a solid crop. So peaches are available but not as many, and the prices have risen…

Last week I drove to a friend’s house for an afternoon visit. After settling into comfortable chairs on her back porch with glasses of water close by, she and I happily caught up on our lives since we last met in that same spot a year ago. We talked about our kids, our churches, our writing, and the work we find ourselves doing. I loved all of it! Toward the end, we came upon one of my favorite topics and spent the rest of our time there, sharing our thoughts:

How do we grow and feel closer to God?

We are so thankful to know that we are loved by God, but there are times when it is hard to feel that love.

Mercy is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone within one’s power to punish or harm.

I guess we could rewrite that to say, God blesses those who forgive those who don’t deserve it.

As always, I look at the scripture and ask myself questions to dig deeper into my experience and into the truth that I find there. What am I bearing witness to? What am I seeing with my own eyes that I know to be true? What is my own life story shining a light on?

In Matthew, 11:28 Jesus is quoted as saying, Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Jesus offers to take the cross, our burdens, off our backs. He’s eager to carry those burdens for us, as offered in Isaiah 53: 4, Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Do you have a heaviness that you have been unable to lift from your shoulders? Maybe it feels like uneasiness or pressure. Perhaps it feels like sorrow guilt or regret. We all have situations, people, and concerns that we carry.

Do you ever feel uncomfortable when stepping into a room filled with people you don't know? Maybe you feel shy even when you do know everyone. A lot depends on your confidence and your personality. I know that for me, I can find myself feeling happy and outgoing or I can find myself feeling cautious and careful, depending on the situation. I know we are all different, but here are a few of my thoughts about decisions we can make to be hospitable, regardless of how we feel, simply because we are a people called to love others.

But I know a lot of people who say they know that God loves all people. They are quick to recite John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in his name shall not perish but have eternal life. And they are right.

But in the back of their minds, there’s a niggle of unbelief that He actually loves them. They’ve read all the scripture verses. They’ve heard all the sermons and have gone through many Bible studies. But somehow it just doesn’t feel true for them.

A few years ago, my husband and I decided to set aside our autumn Sunday afternoons to go hiking. After church and lunch, we drove to a variety of parks (within an hour’s radius of our city) and explored trails through wooded groves, savoring each unique setting, before driving back. This last fall we explored 10 different hiking areas and put in 30.1 miles. But more than that, we wandered in the middle of stately trees with their thick trunks, sturdy branches, and amazingly colorful leaves. We also experienced the hush of natural beauty and God’s loving presence.

I have often pondered why there was no room for a very pregnant lady to lie down after a long journey. Wouldn’t someone say, “Oh dear, come in, I’ll find a place for you!”

But no. There was no room.

And why was there no room?

Because the rooms were full.

I’ve got to be honest here. Lately, I’ve been wondering how to do something I’ve always thought I was good at. But it turns out, if I pay attention, I’m not as good as I thought. I’ve been watching, or maybe my good friend Jesus is asking me to attend to my heart. The question is: How do I act or react in a loving way in the midst of some kind of conflict?

What does it mean, I mean, really mean, to walk in love?

The angel knew it. The prophets knew it. What you name a child is important.

Names and their meanings still matter today. Here’s the story of how I found a way to show children how they can be like Jesus simply by celebrating and living out the name they have been given.

As we sang How Great Thou Art, I thought of that scene and enjoyed it for a moment before remembering that this was worship and it was God I was singing to. So I thanked him for that memory and pulled my mind back to worshiping him instead of thinking about my childhood. Ah. Yes.

What is it like to be a father? It is fatherlike to be a responsible and faithful provider. Being fun-loving, smart, and wise are qualities we want in a dad. We want our fathers to be strong and stable and safe and approachable and present and dependable and able to connect and fair and brave and loving and kind. Whew…what a list! But indeed all these qualities are fatherlike.

As I grieve the many losses of the past couple of weeks all around the globe, I hang on to this part: Remember, I am with you all the way to the end. And I realize that this is why Jesus showed his disciples how to pray. He knew what terrible events awaited him but he always remembered. He never forgot that His Father was with him, always.