Musings from My Sun Porch

                 Have you ever had one of those days when you just don’t feel like doing anything?   I don’t mean the days when you don’t feel good or your aches and pains are particularly pronounced.   I mean a day when you just want to sit and do nothing.               As I said in my last post, last week I was on vacation with my friends.   It was not our typical trip where we might do a little sightseeing but spend most of our time at the beach or the pool or on the balcony of our condo.   Because of our desire to travel to two specific states, we spent a lot of time on the road.   Over 5 days, I drove between 3 ½ and 6 ½ hours every day but one.   When we arrived home on Tuesday, I quickly unpacked and then completed the final preparations for the Bible Study that would be held in my home on Wednesday.        ...

                 Last week, while on vacation with friends, I had the opportunity to see Lake Michigan for the first time.   Being from Kentucky and having grown up camping, I am very familiar with lakes, but nothing I had ever seen before could have prepared me for the vastness of Lake Michigan.   For four days, we managed to view it from 4 states.   First, we drove along the coastline through Indiana Dunes National Park.   The next day, we saw the southernmost tip as we drove through Chicago, next to the River Walk.   Later that same day, we viewed lighthouses on the lake near Kenosha, Wisconsin.   The next day, we drove to Holland, Michigan, and once more caught glimpses of the lake as we drove near the coastline.             Finally, on the fourth day, we went to the beach.   The sand wasn’t as white as what you typically find at an ocean beac...

                 Change in life is inevitable.   Without change, there is no growth, no productivity, and no adventure.   At this time of the year, many youngsters and their parents are experiencing the first day of school, which is one of the first “milestone” changes that we all experience.   Other milestones might be graduation, marriage, or first jobs.   The point is that we all experience change at numerous times in our lives.   The outcome of those changes will often depend on how we respond to them.             When we look to the Scripture, as various people encountered God, their lives were changed in tremendous ways. All of them had a choice in how they responded to the changes that God initiated.             Mary and Joseph are two who had their lives planned.   They were engaged to be...

                 Almost three years ago, I began writing this blog.   I was newly retired and searching for a new purpose in my life.   My struggle was that I had “no structure, no daily schedule, and seemingly no purpose in my life.   While that may sound like heaven, I believe that Christians never retire.   God just repurposes them.”             Since then, my view of retirement hasn’t changed.   If anything, I’ve become more convinced that God has a purpose for each of us, no matter, or perhaps, despite our age.   Ephesians 2:10 tells us that God prepared good works in advance for each of us to do, and I pray that I pursue those good works daily.   I believe that by writing and teaching, I am attempting to carry out some of those good works that God prepared for me, and I’ve found renewed purpose.        ...

                 Recently, I watched a documentary about Hurricane Ian that struck Ft Myers Beach in September of 2022.   My family, friends, and I have vacationed there many times, so the video story of the devastating impact of that storm was both sad and fascinating.               Several individuals were spotlighted as they told their heartbreaking efforts to survive one of the most devastating storms in the last 90 years.   As I listened to and watched the video, I saw several places that were very familiar to me, now reduced to rubble.   One man talked about being swept out of his home as it began to collapse around him.   He found himself in about 15 feet of fast-moving water and was desperate to find something to cling to.   Thankfully, he found a tree and hung on for dear life until the water began to recede.   He survived the storm! ...

                 Today would have been my Mom’s 97 th birthday.   Like my Dad, Mom loved and cared for her family, but if I had to use one word to describe her, it would be “doer”.   Mom had to constantly be doing something to provide a better life for her family.   She did so much to keep our family running smoothly.   During the summer, she was constantly working in the garden, canning and freezing goodies that we could enjoy the following winter.   That didn’t stop her from searching out grocery bargains and taking my brother and me to countless activities. I think that one of the biggest issues my Mom and I had concerned chores. I’ve always been an avid reader, and when Mom had chores for me to do, my standard reply was, “Please wait until this chapter is finished.”   She always agreed, only to come back 30 minutes later to find that I was 3 chapters past the one we had agreed on.   Needless to...