We sin against one another on a horizontal plane. We lie, cheat, steal and commit all manner of abominations against each other that wound and damage and destroy. These violations of God’s moral standard are debts accumulated, outstanding obligations that cost everyone involved.

Choose – it is the everyday reality of how we spend our treasure – the resources of time, of opportunity, of ability and of obedience.

Words often stop me in my tracks. Sometimes, it is the unexpected appearance of a word like grant, give or cause. For example, we are told in the Word of God that God grants (gives) forgiveness (2 Timothy 2:25); He causes us to be born again (1 Peter 1:3), and He grants by His divine nature and precious and magnificent promises for us to have all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3 – 4).

Over the course of my life, I have been blessed to be a part of building a couple of structures including a barn and a room addition we called, the great room. Something I learned from those projects is this, foundation is foundational.

It’s been almost 54 years since I’ve been able to open my eyes and clearly read the numbers on the clock, any clock. Without the aid of corrective lenses, it is a neon sea of red, a blur of indistinction that causes a cascade of squint, of scramble for glasses and of irritation. There is never a break, but, increasingly, there is blessing.

Water fascinates me. In addition to the various forms it takes – liquid, ice, steam, or vapor – it is life sustaining and life taking. Over centuries, water wears through mountain paths and seeps into cracks and crevices, breaking even the most impenetrable of granite.

With that profession, everything that Mary had ever hoped for or dreamed about died. With that profession, Mary quietly submitted to the sovereign hand of God, even though she had no idea what that would mean for her future.

Words hold tremendous value in my life.  They sculpt mountains, paint seascapes and carve out vistas capable of rendering me speechless.