Conntecting the Dots

Posts Tagged: friendship

Loving People Through Hospitality

  One of the things I enjoy most about living in the marina is inviting our neighbors over for meals. The food is never fancy, but it’s warm and nutritious. The single men, especially, seem appreciative both of the food and of opportunity to sit around a table and enjoy conversation.     Hospitality in… [ read more ]

Love in Action

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. (NLT)   We feel good when our spouse or kids or grandkids tell us that they love us. We feel even better when their actions convey their sentiments, right? They could… [ read more ]

Serving Others: The Path of Blessing

  Several hours before Jesus was arrested, He and His disciples shared a last meal together. Then He knelt before the men and, one by one, washed and dried their feet—Judas included.   “Do you understand what I was doing?” Jesus asked when He finished the job. “Since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed… [ read more ]

On the Lookout for Splashes of Beauty

While in Nepal recently, a friend and I had a spent several hours talking about life—our concerns, our joys, our lows and our highs. In the end, we reached a mutual decision to not focus on the hard stuff in our personal lives or in future conversations with each other. Instead, we committed to developing… [ read more ]

Why Handling Hurts Alone Isn’t the Best Idea

Earlier this week my six-year-old grandson Luke  said, “Grandma, I have an infected finger.” Then he turned one hand palm up to show me. Sure enough, the joint area of his middle finger was puffy and purplish.   “Ouch!” I said. “How did that happen?”   “A stick poked me and made a little hole,”… [ read more ]

Rubber Gloves and Roast Chicken

  It was Monday afternoon, and I was knee-high in packing boxes when I heard the knock on our door. Who could that be? I wondered. I opened it to find our Sunday school teacher—Larry—standing on the step. “I thought you could use this,” said Larry. He handed me a package containing a roasted chicken…. [ read more ]

Jump to Conclusions and Judge, or Extend Grace?

For years I’d heard the story about the Samaritan woman. You know—she’s the one who’s famous for interacting with Jesus at the water well. She’s also the one with the reputation for being promiscuous. What else would you call a woman who’s had five husbands and is living common-law with a sixth? (John 4:4-30)  … [ read more ]