Author Archives: joyocala

Legislatures passing a reform bill, delinquents sentenced to reform school, and going back to 1517, Martin Luther began his effort to reform the Catholic Church. Reform “means make changes in something, (typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.”  Martin Luther, … Continue reading →

I don’t think any of us want to hear the words “I told you so” when we have errored. We may have been warned by someone not to do something a certain way or at all for that matter, but … Continue reading →

I know that I write a lot about gardens. I love to watch the miracle of growth in any form. However, gardens present such a wonderful example of God at work, silently and skillfully in areas where we can easily … Continue reading →

My mother had an atlas that intrigued me because the area north of Alaska was marked “unexplored.” This was no ancient tome. When I was a child it was less than twenty years old. Even my 1952 Encyclopedia Britannica says, … Continue reading →

In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, the word for wait means to expect, to hope, to hang on. Sometimes our interpretation of wait is: inconvenience, untimeliness, aggravation, unpleasantness. In a Bible study once, I learned the answers for … Continue reading →

This could be another instance of how the English language can be so complicated. So many antonyms, synonyms, spellings that get “confuzzled” (that’s an Amy word). Sometimes the only way to have peace of mind is to give someone a … Continue reading →

It’s mid-October and I’m nostalgically thinking of the beautiful red and gold leaves that fell from our trees in New England.  Walking through the woods, we’d shuffle through a bed of fallen leaves.  Sometimes bright red, sometimes deep colored, sometime … Continue reading →

I admit I am not a theologian, nor well versed in deep Biblical explanations for life. Yet if you, like me, are on social media, you have probably seen memes and little blurbs about smiling and sunshine and positivity. There … Continue reading →

Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch martyred in Rome some time around 108. Almost everyone of those statements has been disputed. Ignatius is intriguing because he left seven letters that he wrote as he was being taken to Rome for … Continue reading →

In Luke 18:1-8, we meet the Persistent Widow. A beleaguered woman whose unending pleas to the worldly, not God-fearing judge finally convinces him to give her justice. Her example teaches the value of constant intercession to the Lord as a … Continue reading →