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The Well In The Wilderness Church, Christmas Valley, OR (2026)

06/07/2026

Blank Slate

Today I’m pretty blank, or maybe just pressed for time. But this makes me think about being a blank canvas for God to do His work, the verse ‘Be still and know” comes to mind. It can be found in Psalm 46:10.

It’s a verse that calls us to pause, reflect and understand that God is in control regardless of what’s happening in our lives. It’s a verse that prompts us to take time to connect, or reconnect, to our faith, our Creator, and just be.

Being a blank slate isn’t a bad thing you see, it’s a pause from the things of this world, the situations, decisions and general ‘stuff’ that inundates and permeates our daily lives.

Being a blank slate allows letting loose of today’s troubles, thoughts and issues; a little R&R for the soul and time to connect with the One who is in control. Today I am a blank slate, and I am free.

05/24/2026

Freedom

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. A day where we reverently take time to honor our military personnel who died while serving in our armed forces. Each one deserves our respect and gratitude for without these brave souls; just how different would our lives be?

When we look upon our own mortality brings a solemn awareness of the frailness of our lives. It is what we do with what we’ve been given; our very lives do matter and can make such a difference. Our troops understand this. Every one of their lives have mattered and made a difference; they have sacrificed their lives to protect us and ensure we have freedom.

Jesus also understood this and willingly sacrificed His life that each one of us may know freedom. The torturous sacrifice He made at the cross by the hands of those He loved was for you, for me, for all. His purpose, His mission, His message was freedom. He conquered death once and for all by being raised up on the third day making a difference for all humanity, offering each person freedom.

I’ve often pondered what makes me so special that He did this for me? As we go about our daily lives, sometimes we don’t always take hold of this freedom offered. Living each day in celebration of this gift of freedom just handed to us if we will accept it, is so precious. May we always remember that our actions and our words share the Good News of freedom.

I encourage us today to take a moment in remembrance of those who gave up their lives so that we all may know personal freedom in the land which we live. I encourage us to never let go of the spiritual freedom Jesus so freely offers out of love for each and every one of us. May you and yours be blessed as you honor and celebrate the gift of freedom.

So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

05/17/2026

These High Prices

Good Golly! Prices are just out of control these days. I remember feeding my entire family for the month on about $400. Now days, that seems to be about half a month for less family in the house. I don’t know about you but I am really tired of these high prices.
We can’t blame the stores, or the manufacturers either really. As a business owner, I know all too well the inflated cost of producing a product and selling it.

Revelation 6:6 talks about inflated prices: “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” This passage indicates a common experience of hard economic times due to inflation while perhaps suggesting those who can afford luxury items such as wine or oil, may not be hurt by inflationary or economically high prices.

One thing I do know, is that the love and salvation that Jesus offers is FREE. His sacrifice has paid my debt, and yours too! Each of us has the choice to accept it, oh what a gift! While prices rise, we can all be secure in the debt Jesus paid for each of us. I know He will see us through difficult times, including these high prices.

Being a friend to Jesus, putting our trust in Him following His example despite how our circumstances may appear will get us all through these crazy times. It was Jesus who purchased us; it was He who paid the ultimate high price.

05/10/2026

Mothers Are

First one up, last to bed. The organizer, the maid, the cook, the chauffeur, and the soother of boo boos. Our first teachers, our cheerleaders and companions, our comforters and care providers, our rule makers and boundary setters. This and an even longer list, is what mothers are.

Each of us as Mothers started out somewhere, perhaps knee deep in diapers, chores and little time to ourselves or maybe mid-stream as a bonus Mom. No matter where we are in our mothering journey, we also, are growing.

Making home a safe haven, one of refuge and comfort, learning to be generous and aware of the many around us who have needs, reaching out to others with the hands of Jesus- this is who mothers are.

As mothers we can feel pretty battle worn at times but it isn’t so much about striving to be that perfect mother, it’s about blooming right where God has planted us; this is who mothers are.

The bible teaches that we should honor our mothers (Ephesians 6:2 & Deuteronomy 5:16) and so today we celebrate these impactful women in our lives, ordinary women who give extraordinarily to others.

We wish you all a blessed and beautiful Mother’s Day; celebrate your God-appointed journey no matter how you came to be on it and where you are on this blessed road.

04/26/2026

Fruit Cups

At times it can be easy to see and react to things like the person we once were before Christ. Sometimes we just need to be reminded and encouraged that although this world is a spiritual battlefield, we can place good fruit in our cup.

In the world we can tend to allow other things to provide us happiness, security, or bring us a satisfaction. These things are merely temporary and don’t last, pretty soon we are looking to fill our cup again….and again.

Even after making the choice to follow Jesus, there can still be parts of the old man still hidden away inside. It can come out as fruit, of the unpleasant variety: anger, unforgiveness, gossip, foolishness, grumpiness and the like. All fruit bears seeds, good or bad we are planting seeds all the time.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit enables us to strip away the hidden things of the old us we were in the world. Regardless who we have been, we can be bubbling over with the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I encourage each of us today to ponder on what’s good, what’s lovely, and fill our cups with the Fruit of the Spirit. May His richness overflow our fruit cups.

04/19/2026

Bloom

The hay fields here are getting green, our lawn is needing mowed like yesterday, and I see our roses and other plantings waking up. Part of the beauty of the desert for me, is watching it come alive in the spring; where a cold, drab, dirty desert existed over the past 6 months, begins to vibrantly bloom.

In our lives we go through seasons too, and there’s been all kinds of circumstances that have brought us to wherever we are now; some sunny and warm and some cold and wintery. But God has a way of meeting us right where we are, He prepares the soil for us so that where we are planted, we can bloom; vibrantly bloom.

I’ll admit, I have not always been contented where I’ve been planted; some very long wintery seasons in my life felt like they’d just never end. You may have been there too, or are there now. I feel you there.

When we can begin to nurture our own souls and put God first in our lives, we can, little by little, learn to be content no matter our season. Here, in this soil of contentment, where we are planted in the dirt with Jesus gently covering us, is where we come alive and bloom…. vibrantly so.

04/12/2026

Control

I had never thought of myself as a control freak, just a person who likes to have or do things a certain way. Of course, we don’t think we are controlling until we can’t control what we want to, right?
In taking inventory of who I am in Christ, and ..who I want to be.. scratch that…who Jesus intends me to be, I’ve learned to let go. I’ve come to understand the need to control things, whether it’s how the glasses are arranged in my cupboard or how things need to be done, likely has roots in trauma.

When feeling a need to control something is when I know I need to let go and let God; this is when I trade in my thoughts and ideas of what things should look like for Gods bigger picture. To truly trust God to be in charge of my life, even while knowing the direction of His will, just exactly how all the details play out is really up to Him, not me.

I don’t think I’m the only one who has struggles, and I’m here to say we are not failures for our struggles, we do not have to have everything all figured out and neatly arranged. God is with each one of us, He is eager to help, always wanting to get us from where we are to where we need to be. I love Him for that; I love Him for loving me that much.

I invite us all to soak in His love no matter where we are in this life, to allow His healing love to move through us by taking a blind step in faith just as Abraham did even though he didn’t have the plan, or control.

04/04/2026

I wonder if she remembered his first steps
while she stood beneath his last

If the sound of the hammer
echoed like the rhythm
of his little feet running toward her

Mama, look

I wonder
if she thought about the first time
he said her name
soft and small
before the world ever called Him Savior

Before crowds
Before miracles
Before the weight of the cross

He was just her boy

The one she carried
The one she held
The one she kissed goodnight

And now—

Now she stands
with empty hands
watching the same hands
that once reached for hers
stretched out on wood

Pierced

I wonder if her heart whispered
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go

Or if somewhere deep within her
she knew…

This was exactly
why He came

Because He was never only her son

He was her Savior too

The same voice that once said
Mama
now speaks forgiveness over the world

The same hands she once wrapped
in cloth
are now bearing the weight
of every sin

And still—

He looks at her

Not just as a King
Not just as a sacrifice

But as her son

And I wonder
if in that moment
her heart broke in two directions

Grieving the boy she raised
and worshiping the God He is

Because what kind of mother
watches her child die
and still calls it holy

What kind of love
stands at the foot of suffering
and doesn’t turn away

Mary did

She stayed

Through the pain
Through the questions
Through the silence of heaven

She stayed

And maybe that’s what love is

Not understanding
Not fixing
Not rescuing

But staying

Even when your heart
is being nailed to the cross
right alongside Him

And I wonder
through tear blurred eyes
if she whispered

That’s my son

and at the very same time

That’s my Savior

The Well In The Wilderness Church

06/07/2026

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