New Year’s resolutions are beneficial tools. But for the past few years, I’ve noticed all mine beginning to look the same. Get my driver’s license Learn a new instrument Exercise more regularly Read through the Bible This is partly because I’m not creative to come up with fresh ideas, and partly because I write down … Continue reading Three Prayers For The New Year

December 24 A Christmas Benediction Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! Today I want to thank each one of you personally for spurring me on in my writing by reading this blog. It is immensely encouraging to have readers like you who take the time to build me up, either through an encouraging word, an email, a … Continue reading Sunday Afternoon Snippet

December 17 Wrap This One Up… He’s The One Two Christmases ago I was introduced to Christy Nockel’s song Wrap This One Up. You may have heard this beautiful melody accompanied by an even richer message. The video below is an interview with Christy, who shares the profound story behind this song. I wanted to … Continue reading Sunday Afternoon Snippet

Whether we realize it or not, I think almost everyone has subconsciously conceived their own idea of what the scene of Christ’s birth looked like. For Hallmark, it’s Charlie Brown and Lucy costumed in robes and surrounded by other favorite Peaunts™ characters. For Christmas lawn decorators, it’s a tiny stable with a glowing Baby Jesus … Continue reading Part Two: Child Destined For Sacrificial Service

December 10 The Fourth Wise Man Here is something a little lighter than usual. The sketch comedy of Studio C has been a favorite of mine for a long time. This Christmas sketch, titled Christmas Shopping by the Four Wise Men, has to be one of my all-time favorites. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/GixlF7R7glg   Smiles, Bethany J. … Continue reading Sunday Afternoon Snippet

December 3 Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendor December is here and Christmas fast approaching! One of my favorite things about this time of year is the abundance of rich music and joyful song all around me. December is just about the only month that you can walk into Kohl's and here the lyrics O … Continue reading Sunday Afternoon Snippet

Nobody left their village to take a vacation to Nazareth. It wasn’t the type of town that brought visitors flocking. And it certainly wasn’t the type of town to entertain an angel’s visit. But it did. “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to … Continue reading Part One: Child of the Disreputable and Disregarded

November 26 He Made Himself Nothing: A Blog Christmas Series  What is the first thing that comes to your mind at the name “Jesus”? A cross? A tomb? A crown? Miracles? Parables? Or possibly all of these profound and wonderful works? Me, too. Yet strangely, I often find myself so fixated in these factors of … Continue reading Sunday Afternoon Snippet

November 19 My 5 Favorite Things About Thanksgiving Day My favorite holiday of the year is only four days away! Today I have listed for you my top five favorite things about Thanksgiving Day. Here goes…   Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade The smell of pumpkin pie (not the taste) Turkey cookies* Family laughing … Continue reading Sunday Afternoon Snippet

As we sat chatting over my various summer projects in my Grandma Karen’s living room one hot day last June, Nanny (as we call her) managed to once again do what she was so incredibly gifted at doing. The conversation between us had shifted along the way to my love for writing, specifically, journalism. Without … Continue reading A Legacy of Love From My Grandma Karen