Ruby Hayes is a retired schoolteacher and widow from Lexington, Virginia. Most mornings she is up before the house, writing at her kitchen table with her Bible open and Earl's old mug full of coffee.
devotional
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." — Colossians 3:16 I stopped in the doorway of the Sunday school room yesterday. I had gone
devotional
"O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." — Psalm 104:24 The counter is covered and I have no one to blame but myself. Rutgers on the cutting board, Rutgers on the windowsill, Rutgers in
devotional
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28 I read the words of Jesus in Matthew this morning and I stopped at the word labour. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
devotional
"I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth." — 3 John 1:4 Dan called last night, which is what Dan does. He calls on Tuesday evenings, usually around eight, after the children are settled and Beth has started whatever
devotional
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." — Matthew 18:20 Tuesday morning and I am in the booth by the front window at the diner on Main Street, which is where I have been most Tuesday mornings for longer than
devotional
"Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving." — Colossians 4:2 I sat down at the kitchen table this morning and the prayer came back on its own. I do not mean it had been gone. It had not been gone. But there are weeks when
Sunday Letter
"Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." — Ephesians 3:20-21 It
devotional
"Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!" — Psalm 27:14 I was at Trinity this morning and the church was hot even with the fans going and the stone walls doing what stone walls do, which is try and
devotional
"The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." — Isaiah 11:6 The children have been on summer break for two months now and I have
devotional
"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." — Psalm 118:24 The morning after is always quieter than I expect. I do not know what I expect but whatever it is the morning does not deliver it and instead
devotional
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
devotional
"You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it." — Psalm 65:9-10 I was in the garden by six this morning and out by eight,