Yokemates

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs." Psalm 100:1-2 Quite often you will find me standing in the back of the sanctuary on a Sunday morning as the worship hour begins. I rarely am in the same place. Some Sundays I'm able to be in the sanctuary for all of the musical portion of worship, other Sundays I get a song here or there as the demands of the morning beg for my attention. Even with that semi-distracted worship, I usually have a few moments to really connect to a song or two - in at least one of our worship hours.  Now, however, as we adapt and reinvent what corporate worship (aka virtual worship) looks like, I've missed being able to sing with my church family - live and in person! As each week passes by, I'm missing that element of worship more and more. (Plus, my car radio hasn't worked for several months!)  Thankfully, I got a simple text from one of my daughters this pas...

Today was a day filled with watching blue lines and blue circles. I kept waiting. It kept processing. As each hour passed, I felt more and more stuck in the middle. After several hours of trying to work the process and patiently waiting for results, I realized I was only in the beginning phase. Worse yet, I had no clue when I'd ever see even the slightest flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Do you know the feeling? My reality today was wrapped up in trying to get Sunday's sermon (as in tomorrow!) to upload onto YouTube. Two different computers, several browsers and literally hours later my project – amazingly – was uploaded. (Praise the Lord!) I didn’t know what to do with my emotions. Scream, cry or simply sit in disbelief! Have you felt stuck lately – at that halfway point of COVID19? Many say we have arrived, others are not so sure. The blue line is moving, but we don’t know how long it will all take to process. In the meantime, we wait and pray. We find crea...

In the midst of COVID-19 precautions and the childcare predicaments of ‘essential workers,’ I have taken up partial responsibility for watching one set of our grandchildren until the ‘stay-at-home’ guidelines have been lifted. My typical daily routine has changed drastically. No doubt, your lifestyle has been impacted pretty dramatically as well!  My new normal on weekdays includes getting up at 5:30 am to give myself a chance to wake up, get dressed and get out the door. (It's the earliest daily routine that I’ve ever had, come to think of it.)   Upon arriving at my daughter's house, I find her finishing up her morning routine. Her husband is long gone to work, and the kids are usually still in bed. The house is quiet - except for a little whimper.  In a matter of minutes, I hear metal click. Then, bounding out of the side room flies a bouncing puppy who is full of tail wags and enthusiastic greetings. While I would like to think that I'm the focus of all this spirited...