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Book Review: “True Life: Practical Wisdom from the Book of Ecclesiastes” by Carolyn Mahaney & Nicole Whiteacre
Introduction Have you ever felt like no matter how much you try to organize things, they never turn out quite how you’d like them to? Do you spend your life trying to make special moments happen, only to watch them slip through your grasp? Do you feel like life is an endless cycle of repetitive activities that you must do over, and over, and over again? How can you find joy when things go terribly wrong? True Life: Practical Wisdom from the Book of Ecclesiastes provides you with answers and encouragement from King Solomon himself, who had every earthly pleasure and found no satisfaction in any of it. “Vanity of…
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Teacher by Nature: A Year in Review
Happy New Year, dear readers! I’m so happy you decided to stick with me for another year. I hope my (and Brian’s) writing blessed you and encouraged you to grow in faith in Jesus and to fight the good fight of faith with all of your might. Usually about this time of year, I post a list of my New Year’s resolutions. I’m not clear about what I’d like them to be yet. I know I’d like to keeping losing weight (15 lbs. and counting!) and eating a mostly whole foods, plant-based diet. I’d also like to continue to improve my martial arts skills and physical conditioning as I take…
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Happy Thanksgiving {Weekend}
Dear Readers, Thank you for following Teacher by Nature for another year! I’m so thankful for all of you, and it is such an encouragement and a joy to write for you. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, and if the holiday season is more challenging for you than anything else, I pray that you would find rest in the peace of God through Jesus, which surpasses all understanding. We had a fun day with my family. Our menu consisted of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon and mushrooms, butternut squash soup, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie, cherry pie, and sugar cookies. After…
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Beneath the Starry Skies
Many years agoWhen I was young and mildI found my place beneath the starsI was such a timid child With a flashlight in my hand,I’d scramble down to the dockAfraid I might meet a hungry bear,Afraid someone might hear me talk I’d whisper tales to the glitterStrewn in the blackening skyTiny, blooming flowers of lightAcross the lake they’d lie And still I walk underneath them,(But I am older now)Through fields of snowy asters,And I wonder–how? How can God take a dream,One persistent part of me,Grow it into something good, andBless me with this sweet reality? With a flashlight in my hand,I cross the dewy lawn,Past the rabbit in his cage,He…
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The Church’s One Foundation
This is a guest post from my husband, Brian. Brian works casual call as a nurse and does the majority of the work involved in taking care of our land and animals. In his free time, Brian enjoys planting trees, building things (like this incredible chicken coop), and singing hymns. We’ve been married for 14 years, and I’m happy to call him my husband. *** Though with a scornful wonder men see her sore oppressed,By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes up, “How long?”And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song. One of the things I really appreciate…