The Bible Story Family

Election frenzy is in full swing. Enough said! Silver bells and candy canes will soon replace Halloween scarecrows on store shelves. I am convinced that some year the final fireworks display on Independence Day will proclaim, “Do your Christmas shopping early.” What can we do to remain calm in a traffic jam world? We’re going on a cruise to Alaska. Carmen’s siblings and their spouses plan to relax for a week, slow down, and reduce the pace at which life is lived. But is that a good thing? Shouldn’t we always stay busy? Jesus didn’t think so. When He and his disciples became so busy that they didn’t even have time to eat, He told them to “come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31). The Psalmist agreed with that when he wrote that God “gives His beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2). Calm, like so many other aspects of life, can be profitable, or unprofitable. Sleeping life away because of laziness will not prepare us for election frenzy. Allowing time t...

  It is not every day that a person attends a 100 th birthday party. Carmen and I had that privilege recently. Her aunt, Gladys Toews, celebrated one hundred years. However, it was more than just a celebration of a hundred years on earth Those gathered in Waseca, Minnesota, celebrated a life lived for the glory of God. Carmen’s brother, Don Odens, was asked to share a brief history of the ministry of Gladys and her husband Jake Toews. They spent most of their adult lives serving as missionaries in the Philippine Islands. They were involved in the organizing of more than two hundred churches in that country. Two of the stories Don shared provided a fascinating insight into the lives Jake and Gladys shared together. When Jake was eight years old, the offering plates were being passed in church. When the plate came to him, he set it on the floor and stepped into it. “I am giving myself to serve the Lord,” he announced to the congregation. That was the spirit with which he and Gla...