Gayle

How to Pray When the World Is Burning Down

2026/01/09 Gayle 0

The world feels like it’s burning down around us – things we have believed were set in stone, immovable, impenetrable, have changed in rapid times. Things like governmental checks and balances, like the existence of safety nets we have come to count on – social programs, foreign aid, the greater good, liberty for ALL, even the pursuit of happiness. WOW! Have things changed in a year – only a year. This morning a friend asked: I know that God understands what comes from our heart, even when it sounds a bit mangled…but I wonder…how do we pray about this? My words that are most heartfelt would be along the lines of “Dear God, please save us from this evil spineless, d***less POS and all of The rest of the story

Perhaps you were created for such a time as this

Choosing a Word for 2026 (and Letting It Choose You)

2026/01/01 Gayle 0

For several years now—at least back to around 2008—I’ve chosen a word to guide my year. Not a resolution.Not a checklist.Just a single word. It’s a practice that really took shape for me around 2012, when my Sunday school class read My One Word by Mike Ashcraft together. Ashcraft describes the purpose of choosing one word simply and beautifully: to help people walk with God. His book offers a kind of manual—choose a word, pair it with a scripture, meditate on it, and return to it again and again as the year unfolds. That framework stuck with me. Over the years, I’ve chosen words like heal, laugh, yes, and energy. Some of those words shaped entire seasons of my life. Others worked more quietly, doing The rest of the story

The War on Christmas Was Won – and We All Lost!

2025/12/20 Gayle 0

I truly hate to shop! If I can avoid going into a store, I do! The one true exception is around Christmas! I used to enjoy the black Friday afternoon shopping, or the annual trip to the mall. I loved the way strangers called out Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to everyone they met (it felt like being in a Christmas Carol – which I love BTW) This time of year it just used to sound different! To feel different! A few days ago Jenn and I were discussing how it “doesn’t feel like Christmas” and then how that as been the case for a few years now. And like I do, I have been thinking on why… I think I have decided, December once The rest of the story

How Do We Help Christians Lose the Hate?

2025/07/30 Gayle 0

How Do We Help Christians Lose the Hate? Without Beating Them Up About It Let’s be honest—some days, it feels like “Christian” has become a brand associated more with judgment than with Jesus. Maybe you’re feeling a bit like the sentiment “I love Jesus, but I struggle with his followers” is often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Or as it’s more commonly phrased, “I like your Jesus, I do not like your Christians”. Some have said that Gandhi expressed this sentiment and maybe you’ve felt that too—grieving the gap between the radical love of Christ and the way some of his people behave. So how do we help bridge that gap? How do we help Christians lose the hate, rediscover compassion, and become more Christ-like—without shaming The rest of the story

Smoldering Beneath the Surface: Underground Fires, Racism, and America’s Eruption

2025/05/07 Gayle 0

There recently has been a wild fire near me in Boiling Spring Lakes, about 30 miles by road and less “as the crow flies” to my southeast. In a recent news story, they reported that the fire was contained 10% but said ““The fire is in an area which has a lot of organic soil, which means there is vegetation in the soil that can burn. A lot of times in this particular area around Boiling Spring Lakes, that vegetation has a tendency to hold fire in the root system and underneath the ground. So the coming days will really show whether or not the fire is working underground; it has a tendency to pop up in other areas.” WECT And I became fascinated with The rest of the story