The Plumbline

I have been cleaning out small spaces lately, going through all of mom's belongings, sorting little things to give to family that will hold meaning to them. In the process, I came across a small trinket I have carried with me for years - a "Dope-Stopper" coin given to me by Art Linkletter when I was around 12 years of age. I was honored to hear him in person, having won a challenge at my local school to create a poster that spoke to remaining drug-free. In the height of the 60's, drugs were rampant and kids everywhere were beginning to experiment with the stuff. His goal was to speak truth and hope into the lives of pre-teens, on the cusp of making life-changing decisions as they entered their challenging teen years. My "Speed Kills" poster afforded me the opportunity to meet this great man, but most importantly, gave me the chance to hear his message of his daughter's addiction and her ultimate death. In the end, I walked away with his words echoing dee

Right now in our country, there is a great deal of discussion, or perhaps debate over the issue of who should hold the highest seat of political office in our government. There are supporters on each side of the debate, but it is hard to tell which way the issue will end. The two parties oppose each other - one trying hard to have an impact on the other until whoever finally 'wins'. Have you ever wondered if your life could ever make an impact - if you could ever be a positive influence in the lives of others? Perhaps you have listened to people of your past or present who repeatedly belittle you, tearing you down every chance they get, making any hope of "impacting" the world in a positive manner a little less than a 'probable' vision for you. Maybe you have tried to make an impact, having ventured out in one area or another, only to find yourself running into brick walls and resistant forces.  Impact can be positive or negative - two possible outcomes exis

We all have probably experienced at least one of those moments when the "mess" of our present "muddle" seems like more than enough to handle. As though our life energy or soul's determination were limitless, someone comes along telling us to get "deeper" into the "muddle" we are in! I think we all probably might have responded similarly to the ill-fated one who tells us to get ourselves into a deeper muddle - it probably went something like, "Are you nuts! Things are more than I can handle right here and you want me to do what?" Hey, this is not a new response to human issues all around us! People just don't want to 'deal with' more so they are constantly trying to find ways to just unload the mess they presently have - not to take on "MORE". But David's men said, "We live in fear of our lives right here in Judah. How can you think of going to Keilah in the thick of the Philistines?" So David