Monthly Archives: June 2024

Peace Plan

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According to my Bible Reading Plan for 2024, a word study on “peace” is coming up next. For those who are slogging through Leviticus with me, hang in there! We’re almost done! For those who lost some traction in the chapters on mildew and bodily discharges, start fresh with us on July 1st!

This is year #3 in my study on the Fruit of the Spirit,
as found in Galatians 5:22.
Six years to go.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
(Kinda glad self-control is at the end.)

Here’s my peace plan:

  • A short passage or verse for every day (Monday-Friday) during the month of July.
  • Write out the verse with the word “peace” in it, using an actual pencil on actual paper.
  • Re-write the verse in my own words.
  • Pray for peace—peace within, peace around me, peace in the world.
  • Extra credit for fellow Bible study nerds: go to blueletterbible.org to look up original language definitions. (You should try it—it’s so much fun.)

Click here or on the link at the top of the page for the passages.

Daily Sugar

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As a child, I had a sweet tooth. And the cavities to prove it. I clearly remember my mother buying me a sweet treat on the way home from the dentist for being a good girl. Not many of my experiences in the dentist chair were happy ones.

I still have a sweet tooth. And a bag of licorice in my desk drawer to prove it. And some cookies in the back of the freezer. And caramel ice-cream topping in the refrigerator. Who needs ice-cream when a spoonful of caramel will do? Although ice-cream is always a good option.

I know. My penchant for sugar is not good for me and I should quit cold-turkey. After that bag of licorice is gone.

Maybe that’s why I smiled when I came across this quote by my favorite old dead guy, Charles H. Spurgeon.

“Certain people must always have sweets and comforts;
but God’s wise children do not wish for these in undue measure.
Daily bread we ask for—not daily sugar.“

The more I thought about Spurgeon’s words, the less I smiled. Am I one of those people who must always have sweets and comforts? Do I wish for these in undue measure? Have I prayed, “Give me this day my daily sugar?” And I’m not just talking about cookies and candy.

What other things do I turn to for comfort? Ordering another book from Amazon? Binge watching on Netflix? Too much “me” time? Wanting things my way?

Spurg did it again.
He drew me in with winsome words
and then cut me to the quick.

I wonder if Charles (and maybe Jesus) had a savory palate.
“You are the salt of the earth, not the sugar candy!”
C. H. Spurgeon

Pilgrim Hymnal

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This is my grandfather, J. Frank Bradley.

Isn’t he handsome?

He was born on June 5, 1886.
Yesterday would have been his 138th birthday.

He died in 1966, just nine months after my grandma passed.
It was said he died of a broken heart.

I don’t remember much about the man. I have no recollection of sitting on his lap for a story or playing peek-a-boo or even hearing him laugh. I was at the tail end of his line of grandchildren so he was already elderly when I came along. I faintly recall Grandpa Bradley’s baritone voice leading the “Doxology” at family Thanksgiving meals. Maybe that’s why I pulled this old hymnal down from the shelf this week. It’s a treasured possession.

The hymnal was gifted to J. Frank when he retired from singing in the church choir after 40 faithful years. Both the pastor and the choir director wrote notes of thanks inside the front cover. All 28 choir members, including the organist, signed their names.

“I must say that you are a fine human being and that you have been a source of personal inspiration to me during our years of friendship.”

Here is what caught my eye when I opened the old songbook.

March 8, 1959. I would be born eight months later. Still an unknown surprise, I was in the earliest stages of being knit together in the secret place, wonderfully and fearfully made.

I picture Grandpa Bradley in the Somers Congregational Church choir loft, holding his Pilgrim Hymnal and singing, “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter in the stormy blast, and our eternal home.”

It seems that this world is in even more need of God’s help than it was back in 1959. But I have just as much hope for my grandchildren in the years to come as he must have had for me.

Someday, in our eternal home, maybe Grandpa and I will sing a duet.