Prodigal Ponderings — spirituality RSS



Decisions

We had been looking forward to our vacation for a couple months and when the time finally arrived to prepare for our trip we had one major obstacle to contend with: Hurricane Irma.  Planning a vacation to Florida in the month of September is always risky since it is hurricane season, however we’ve done it before so we thought it worth doing again. Hurricane Irma was not just a threatening storm, it was billed as the largest and most dangerous storm to our hit our land in any of our lifetime. After watching the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and all the damage that storm did to Texas, this was not something to be taken lightly.  So we had a serious...

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"Unnatural" Aging and Role Reversals

As I looked over the blogs I've written in the past one of my recurring themes (although not intentionally) has been aging and the elderly. Perhaps this is due to my  own age and the realization that although getting older is a process we all experience from the womb onward, facing the decline of old age is as unnatural an experience as there is. Just this past week we spent time with my wife's folks (who are approaching 80) and also had lunch with a church friend who shared her 90+ year old mom's testimony with us.  I've talked previously about the value of the aged but not as much about the emotional challenges that aging brings. Our church friend lost...

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It's Not What You Make.....But How

I don’t subscribe to a lot of woodworking blogs because sometimes too much information makes matters more confusing rather than clearer. That said, I have subscribed to Paul Sellers blogs, as he is one of the real online pioneers (IMO) of woodworking. A recent blog post of Paul's called “Election Day” talked more about his woodworking ideology than about specific tools or products (https://paulsellers.com/2017/06/thursday-8th-june-2017/). In his blog Paul identified a certain passion that I immediately related to: the concept of “It’s not what you make but how.”  I don’t want to take credit for anyone else’s work so I encourage anyone reading this blog to check out his. That said, the concept of “how” over “what” is something that attracted me to...

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Made to Worship

During my recent Bible study, in the midst of the Old Testament book of Judges,  I was reminded of  a central aspect of how God created us all.  Whether believers or not, all of us were made to worship. While most relate worship to a religious practice, the reality goes far beyond that.  As a matter of fact one of the definitions Webster offers is this:  extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem. In my past, my worship was given to any number of self-serving pursuits that ultimately left me unfulfilled. Here’s an example: several years ago I was fortunate enough to share in season tickets for my favorite hockey team.  Looking back, this was just one...

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Rolling Up Our Sleeves

A New Year always brings contemplation of the past and anticipation of what is to come.  Like most, we find ourselves pondering all that is ahead and how we can be more productive. This past year has been a real "learning curve" for us in that not only have we expanded our woodworking, we've also had to tackle the daunting task (for us anyway:) of this website, social media, and even taking the plunge into the world of weekend markets.  It's been both exhilarating and exhausting at times!  If you're reading this, however, you're the reason we keep at it.....  because we love the opportunity to engage with others sharing what we make, what we learn, and what we love.........

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