Ruby's daily devotionals — short morning reflections on Scripture and the small mercies of an ordinary day.
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"Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it." — Proverbs 15:17 My mother used to say that August is not a month for starting things. She said it the way she said most things, which was plainly, while doing
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"Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." — Isaiah 49:15 The smell of tomatoes cooking down is a smell that takes me back to a specific kitchen and
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"He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds." — Psalm 147:3 Edna called this morning and told me that the woman's husband died. Last Thursday. She did not say it gently because Edna does not say things gently. She said it the way you say
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"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer." — Romans 12:12 The coffee was ready before I was this morning, which happens sometimes when the timer does its job and I do not do mine. I sat down and the kitchen was still dark and the
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"By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life." — Psalm 42:8 Someone had propped the double doors open before the service and the August heat came in and sat down in the
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"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
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"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
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"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,
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"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
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"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
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"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
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"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