Letters to My Friend - Thoughts On Flooding, John MacArthur, and Adultery

Taken July 6, 2025 from our front door. The rain that wouldn't stop.

Dear Friend,

July has been a strange month this year. So many things have happened that it feels like several months have passed in the last 19 days.

In the first 6-7 days of July we recorded over 16" of rain on our property, possibly 17". Most of this fell between the 4th and 7th. We had to deal with an evacuation order first thing on the 5th which was sent to us by mistake because our lower property touches a road that was flooding. Sadly, the people living down near the creek did suffer damages but, as far as I know, no lives were lost from our immediate neighborhood. The local stories we have heard dating back to the 1980s and 1950s floods made us believe that we were not in danger up where we are, but I was rattled when the order first came through. The reports from the Guadeloupe River and Kerr County had already been ramping up on the 4th and we were on high alert already. My husband did go down to check the creek waters twice - once in the middle of the night. Our street dead ends at a small river, and we weren't sure if something was going on down there. He went to check, but it was not threatening.

The rains kept coming back for days and days as the remnants of a tropical storm camped over this region. We would think we were past the worst and there would be another flood warning or flash flood warning. We were under "stay in place unless fleeing flood waters" orders more than once over a number of days. Even if we had needed to evacuate on the worst day, we would have been stuck because the bridge at the intersection out of our little road was flooded and not safe to drive through.

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Letters to My Friend - Thoughts On Reading Fiction

Dear Friend,

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

I have read a lot of old books. Primarily ones that were written before, oh, let's say about 1930. That's a guess because I don't pay that much attention, but the books that have cars in them usually have old style cars, so I figure that's a somewhat accurate date. I'm not overly interested in the World Wars, so the '40s are mostly not there for me, and also during that time frame and forward even the more gentle fiction tended to become jaded or grubby. This is not to say that the older books are all wholesome and fine. Far from it. One still has to be quite cautious. But, there is, I think, more to choose from in fiction written prior to 1930. There are also still a lot of options after that date as well.

I am not writing this to tell you what to read, though. That is a choice each one makes for themselves, hopefully with reference to a good conscience before God.

Hebrews 13:18 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.

And speaking of that, perhaps I should touch on the issue of whether fiction is a good choice of reading for Christians. I know there are some people who say it is not...

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Letters to My Friend - Until You Eat It

Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 

When my mom was a little girl she hated oatmeal porridge. Sometimes when she refused to eat it, her mother made her sit at the table until she had finished it. As I recall, on one occasion she was still sitting there when lunch time rolled around. I don't know when she finally did get it down, but it was a hard lesson for her.

My Gramma also taught her children to eat the things they didn't like first so that they could get them out of the way. This works pretty well, since once the serving of what you don't like is gone, you're free to enjoy the rest of your meal. It did backfire on my mom's youngest brother once when he was a little boy. He didn't like peas. He and his siblings were guests at someone's home without their parents being present, and they were served peas along with the rest of their dinner. My uncle ate his right down so quickly that the lady was impressed and, remarking that he really loved peas, she generously gave him another helping. Thankfully, his siblings spoke up and told her why he had gobbled his peas down. Being a very understanding and gracious lady, she told him he didn't have to eat the second helping, much to his relief.

Years later, when we were kids in our own home, I remember my mom putting food in the fridge that one of us had refused to eat. The offender was told they would have eat it at the next meal (probably before they got anything else). It seems like my sister might have pushed this through two meals once, but I don't remember clearly. Much of the time, however, we were made to eat the food one way or another.

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Letters to My Friend - What Do Calamities Mean?

What Do Calamities Mean?

When catastrophes happen, humanly we are tempted to try to interpret them. If there is a extra destructive hurricane or drought or wildfires or a large earthquake - whatever the event - we can start to wonder if "God is trying to tell someone something."

What does the Bible tell us, though?

Just because bad things happen to a certain area it does not mean that those people were worse sinners than others. It also does not mean that some unusual message is being given to us (like who to vote for, or where we should move).

In Luke 13 we read this:

Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

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Letters to My Friend - Thoughts On North Carolina and Loss

Dear Friend,

My heart is heavy for the people in Western North Carolina. We were aware that some serious destruction had happened last week. My husband has family there still and we checked in to make sure they were O.K. They were, but one household had just missed being in the worst of it. They are not terribly far from Asheville.

This weekend as I've looked at videos that are coming out of western North Carolina, Tennessee, and other areas, it was both horrifying and sobering. The speed at which rivers and creeks rose, mud slides started, and people's homes and vehicles were breached was truly frightening. And, knowing that so many have lost so much all at one time is overwhelming. The destruction is mind boggling.

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An Open Letter to Christian Parents

Dear Christian parents,

There is a lot of information being put out by various groups about how to raise “good, godly” children. There are various methods promoted, some even will imply or say outright that their method is the best and will absolutely give the desired results “if followed correctly.” Some go so far as to form cult-like groups to keep their children “safe” from not only the world, but also from the real or imagined problems with other Christian groups and people - and I do mean real Christians, just to clarify.

I'm a married Christian woman who has no children. But, I watched my parents raise two much-younger siblings, and I have observed a lot of friends and other people with their children, and I'd like to share some thoughts with you. I know some people get all uptight about single or childless people having opinions about raising kids. I understand that because I know how intrusive some people are with their uninformed opinions. However, I also know that some of us see real problems and, because we know our thoughts are not welcome, we are afraid to say anything. Sometimes they are things that would actually be helpful to you if you would stop to consider our perspective. So, I'm writing this with the hope of helping someone who may be feeling overwhelmed with some aspects of raising children in this day we live in. I doubt any honest parent would say they haven't been overwhelmed!

1. There is no foolproof plan.

The Pearls, Bill Gothard (ATI, IBLP), your pastor, Voddie Baucham, the Duggars, James Dobson, S.M. Davis, Tedd Tripp, Scott Brown, and dozens of others, do not have a perfect plan. They are not experts on your children. Even you don't know everything about your children. Only your children’s Creator can claim that role. Only their Creator should claim that role. In fact, when parents become obsessed with knowing everything and controlling everything about their children very bad things can happen. Just sayin'...

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Letters to My Friend - Believer, Are You Resting In Christ's Finished Work

Dear Friend,

Are you going through a really rough time? Are the comforts of life that you have enjoyed all gone? Do you feel like you have been stripped of everything that you could do or hold or show as your works for God? Does it seem like you have no blessings left to show how great God is? Perhaps you’ve lost your house, your health, a child, your spouse, your best friend, or more. Maybe you have lost your faith in other people because of the things you have suffered.

If the answer is yes, then you are at a very crucial turning point in your life. You will choose one of two things. You will cast yourself wholly upon God and recognize that all you ever had was from Him to begin with, and it was not earned by you. Or you will become defeated through false pride and self-justification (like Job), blaming God for what He has allowed you to go through after all the good things you did for Him.

If you are not truly born again and all your good works and valiant striving to do the right things, have the right things, give to the Lord, and make something of yourself spiritually were your own efforts. They were done to prove to yourself, others, and God - in that order - that you are saved when you are not.

If this could be you, then you need to sit down and study through the gospel of John and 1 John with someone who is actually saved and find out if you truly believe. [Also, please read the story of Theresa's salvation under similar circumstances.] You need to ask God to give you "...the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe..." (Romans 3:22) You need to be sure of your salvation. You need to be a “know-so” Christian. Anything short of this will leave you in the same mess you are in already.

But, this letter is more specifically to those who are born again, but are not resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

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Letters to My Friend - What Heritage Are You Leaving Them?

Dear Friend,

Psalm 16:5-6 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

In honor of Mother's Day I was thinking that I would post something From Mom's Collection since I haven't posted anything there for awhile. As I was poking through my file folder with loose pages and bits I began to appreciate again how much my mom loved poetry. A majority of what I have in her collection is poetry.

Both of my parents taught me to love poetry as I was growing up. My dad quoted poetry to us from the time we were kids - still does sometimes. :-)  He also would read poems in church services occasionally. He loves old hymns so much he once traded The Treasury of David by Spurgeon for an antique Methodist hymnal.

My mom collected poems more than she quoted them or read them out loud to us. She also loved hymns and songs. She, in turn, had inherited her interest in poetry from her mother who always enjoyed a well-written poem with something worthwhile to say. Gramma had a number of poems she could quote from memory.

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Letters to My Friend - Rolling Away the Grave Stones

Here are some thoughts on how we sometimes need to roll away the grave stones in our lives so that we can see the power of the resurrection is already in us.

Rolling Away the Grave Stones

Are You Grieving? It's OK to Make Holiday Changes

Worth repeating.

Recently I've had a bad case of writer's block. Also, my extended family had more sad life changes to deal with in October, one of which was one of my mom's brothers unexpectedly going to heaven. And a dear friend's mother also got her promotion to glory earlier this year. So, it felt like maybe I should post this again this week. I apologize I didn't get it up on Sunday in anticipation of Thanksgiving in the U.S. This was originally published in 2021. 

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

Dear Friend, 

So many people have lost loved ones over the past two years. The numbers are so high that it sometimes seems impossible. I was talking with a sweet older lady in our church assembly and she was remarking about this, and since she is in her 80s I know it isn't just my imagination.

Holidays, birthdays, and special family events can be especially hard when you have a fresh grief. Well, honestly, they can be hard even when the grief isn't all that fresh any more.

Thanksgiving is my family's biggest holiday of the year. Last year (2020) was our first one without my mom with us. It was hard, but this year was harder. Last year we changed things up quite a bit. My husband had to work most of Thanksgiving week, including the day itself. Some family was in town the week before and so we decided to celebrate then instead. Since we were having dinner on another day, we decided to get take out from a nice restaurant. It was Brazilian, so it was not at all like our traditional Thanksgiving meal. I think we had a homemade dessert or two. I chose not to move the table away from the window so that the table would seem full with five of us. It was a hard, but it went well.

This year was different...

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Letters to My Friend - Anti-Abortion Laws that Can Kill

In this Letter to My Friend I address a subject that has been a concern to me due to the recent anti-abortion laws. It may not be the most popular thing to to say in some quarters, because according to some we must never question the working of the pro-life movement in way or we'll be accused of not loving baby's lives. (Been there, done that.) This is not about disregarding the lives of babies, but it is about valuing the lives of mothers equally.

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Lately I've been reading in Genesis, and I came across a couple verses that I've thought on before. This time they struck me on a different topic, one that I've been concerned about since the Roe vs. Wade ruling was overturned. At that time I was unimpressed by the Christians who were saying that there had been a great victory for life, as if the overturning of that case automatically meant that abortion was illegal in this country. Of course, it didn't mean that at all. It only meant that the states now had the right to make their own laws based on the whims and beliefs of the "majority" in each state. As time has shown, some states will likely go farther and do more evil than even the national laws on the issue previously did.

But, that isn't the specific thing that I was thinking about in regards to these verses.

In Genesis 18, Abraham has been told by the Lord that He is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham took it upon himself to plead for the cities because he knew his nephew, Lot, was living there and he didn't want him and his family killed. At the beginning of his pleading he starts out with this observation on the nature of God: Genesis 18:24-25 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Let me tell a few personal stories:

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Fruit photo by an anonymous friend.

Letters to My Friend - Thoughts On Queen Elizabeth II

I wrote a letter talking about the life of Queen Elizabeth II, and a few things she knew and did in her life. I also pondered what it would mean if she was in fact a believer and went the heaven, and how we might learn something about sacrifice and duty from her life. Though hers was an earthly duty and our is to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, we can to ask ourselves if we have done what we could in service to our great King.

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Excerpts:

In my mind, it is the end of an era, a breaking point in history, a disconnecting from the past. This lady saw a truly amazing stretch of history over her 96 years. She saw the abdication and its aftermath of Edward VIII, moving her from a comparatively unimportant princess to the daughter of the king and heir to the throne. She saw the rise of Hitler and Mussolini and the horrors of World War II as it affected her beloved country and people. She saw her parents sacrifices through all of that as she stayed in London with her parents who insisted that they would not leave and go to a safe place, but would risk their lives with their people. Perhaps she was in the palace when Buckingham Palace itself was bombed. She herself served as an ambulance driver and mechanic during that War, an unheard of thing for the female heir to the throne. Indeed, there were many historical "firsts" for her in her lifetime.

...death is the great leveler. Speaking from the point of view of human reasoning, King Solomon, the wisest king who ever lived said this: "For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool." Ecclesiastes 2:16 Despite her wisdom and the good she did, at the end of the day, when HRH Elizabeth II passed out of this life, a body was left behind and it was no better than any other body that is left behind. Dead is dead. Grand memorials, expensive monuments, massive amounts of flowers, and well-spoken eulogies can't change that...

As I was thinking about the Queen, I was wondering, "What if she was truly saved?"...

When she entered Heaven after leaving her body on this earth what happened?...

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Letters to My Friend - Don't Let Your Story Die

Dear Friend,

Don't let your story die.

 - unknown -

I don't remember where I found this quote, but it is a thought of profound importance. I think that one of the reasons some people's lives become so empty and barren before they physically die is because they let their story die. They give up in their minds or their hearts and they stop trying. This is sad. It is also a very poor use of the one precious life we have been given by God.

For the Christian this is doubled because it is not only a waste of life, it is a waste of the spiritual life that God has given us as well. We never come to a point in our lives where we are allowed to quit being a Christian and just live out the rest of our days. I have known people who have quit on life before their time was up. I have known Christians who at some point sat down and turned all their ministries over to other people and mostly or entirely stopped trying.

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Letters to My Friend - Using Others to Avoid Your Duty

Excerpts from letter:

Are you using someone else as your enabler to avoid doing your biblical duty or what you know to be right? Do you seek relationships that provide you with support in doing your duty and following through in right things, or relationships that provide you with protection from the right things you don't want to do?...

...The truth is that duty isn't always inspiring, rewarding or enjoyable, but it is still something we have to do. When it's a biblical command this is even more essential. Making excuses and justifying our failure to do our duty by pushing someone else forward as our enabler is not only extremely tacky, it's harmful to that relationship. It often isn't fair to the enabler and it's really despicable when we take advantage of their enabling.

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Dear Struggling Mother, We See You...

Dear Struggling Mother,

We see you. We see you and we are not judging you the way you may be feeling judged. No, I'm not speaking for everyone. Obviously I can't. But there are more of us than you may think.

We see you struggling with that baby that is giving you sleepless nights or is constantly sick. We see your tired eyes and that you don't believe that it will ever end. Sometimes we wish we could do more to help. We also know that this time is limited and won't last forever. We can't make it go away. We watch and feel your pain as you stand quietly and try to politely listen to that lady who has lost touch with reality offer more "helpful" advice than you need. We know she is thinking that somehow that will make it better. You know it won't and we know it won't, and we appreciate your frustration and your patience with people hard to bear. We see you. We're on your team. Even, when we forget ourselves and are that "helpful" lady.

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Thoughts for Resurrection Sunday

Dear Friend,

A lot of thoughts come to mind as we remember the greatest day in history - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm not sure I can get them out in an orderly manner, but I'll make an effort.

There are a lot of new faces in heaven this year. So many people passed away since the beginning of 2020. I have lost count of the deaths that have touched us or people we know or care about. It's a crazy high number from my limited experience. Over a dozen, probably pushing more towards twenty. Of course, my mother was one of them. Most of these people we know about were born again, so they are in heaven now, and I just wonder how that seemed. Did the people there notice an influx of new arrivals? Or was it not more than usual? How do they respond to all the new people arriving - especially if they knew them or were even related on earth? It kind of boggles my earth-bound mind. The one thing I do know is that these events were precious to God. Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. He was very happy to have them safely Home with Him, and there's something both moving and comforting about that.

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Letters to My Friend - Jesus Is Mine Forever

 

Do you ever wake up in the night all upset or panicked about something and struggle to give it to the Lord? Maybe, like me, you also wake in the morning and realize that your mind was completely irrational in those wee small hours. Maybe you even feel a bit foolish too. Sometimes I feel a lot foolish.

The year 2020 was rough on a lot of us. Covid itself, and then the resulting upheaval to life in so many ways was bad enough, but added to that in the U.S. we had a volatile election year. Many people saw family relationship and friendships break down in ways that were sad and disheartening. For my family we also had my dad having a mini stroke, the death of two pets, my mom's dementia crisis and then the end of her life, and numerous deaths connected to family and friends (many not directly related to Covid). Plus I've been traveling that roller coaster ride known as "entering menopause." To say that life was feeling a little fragile for me sometimes would be an understatement.

So, it isn't surprising that one night not long ago I was stressing in the night...

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Letters to My Friend - Thoughts On the Need for Entertainment

 

Dear Friend, 

Just some rambling thoughts this time.

I was talking to a friend recently and I mentioned something that stuck with me, namely that I think one of the problems we're having with people going a bit crazy over COVID is that so many people in the U.S. (and other countries, I'm sure) are addicted to entertainment. It is actually "the drug of choice" for many people. I admit that I have to examine myself when I say this because I enjoy a good read and some videos myself at times. These are things that are available at home as much as anywhere. But there are many people who feel compelled to go out somewhere to do something to be entertained. Whether it's eating out, going to a movie, participating in sports, shopping, going to a specific place to be seen, or whatever else, there are many ways people seek entertainment outside their homes.

When my grandpa was a boy their neighbors would sometimes sneak up to their back door, open it, and push a large tub of pop corn through. Then they would walk around to the front door and knock. When someone answered the door they would say they had come over to play games. They knew my grandpa's family was poor (his father was dead) and so they thoughtfully made sure to provide the "refreshments" for the evening. My grandpa remembered those times with genuine fondness. I wonder how many people sit down with neighbors to play games now - not their own specific friends, but their neighbors. A few, I'm sure. But, the need for something more exciting is there for a lot of people. This would be far too tame and "boring."

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Letters to My Friend - Your Conscience, Not Someone Else's

 

Dear Friend,

Things have been tense lately as election day approaches in the U.S. Emotions are running high. People have been pressured and even attacked by their family, church family, and friends in ways that feel invasive and lacking in Christian grace. I find it all rather appalling and overwhelming at times.

I was lying in bed thinking about something I had seen myself and just feeling kind of sad and lost in the maze of unkind assertions, when a portion of a verse came to mind.

"the answer of a good conscience toward God"

And something that I already knew in theory struck me more fully, namely this: that my conscience is meant to answer to God, not another Christian. To God. No one else.

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Letters to My Friend - Strength In Trials

I have written another letter, this one again about my mother. I hope it is a help to you. I apologize that I didn't get this up on Sunday. This past weekend was a difficult one for a couple of reasons.

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Dear Friend,

Well, here we are in the midst of the COVID 19 crisis. Regardless of your opinion on the subject, it's impossible to deny that there is a crisis in many countries because of it. I've seen so many things - good, bad, and indifferent - written and posted about it. People encouraging others in many ways. Churches stepping up and doing things new and strange to them, but which obviously needed to be done because...well, here we are, and God is forcing us to do them. People lamenting the loneliness, the stress, the cabin fever (as we call it in some parts). People trying hard to follow guidelines, people half-heartedly obeying the rules, and people cavalierly doing as they jolly well please. People sick and some dying. Questions, questions, questions. Very few answers that seem to be absolutely unquestionable truth. So much to say. So much to complain about. Some with much to do. Some with nothing to do. All can pray, if we will. And we can read God's word.

So many things I could write about. But something is pressing upon my mind that at first might seem unrelated.

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