“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” —Matthew 13:44 NLT

It’s not like I didn’t want to have a daily time of Bible reading. I did. It’s not like I thought praying on the run when I remembered it in emergencies was the best way to develop a rich prayer life. I didn’t. But how in the world was a busy mother of two children under the age of two supposed to find time for that?

… for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. — 1 Peter 1:6b-7

I’m typing this particular Musing in the waiting room at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. My beloved daddy is here.

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. — Psalm 139:16 NLT

I’ll never forget her. I came down the stairs, still a bit groggy with sleep, into her welcoming kitchen. She was busy at the stove preparing a big breakfast for me and her other guests, and she was smiling … through some tears. She’d lost a son several years before, and the memory of him was still fresh (could it ever not be when a mother loses her child?).

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! — 1 Chronicles 16:9-11 (ESV)

I don’t know about you, but for our family when summer hits, everything changes. For as long as I can remember, since my husband is a schoolteacher, summertime has been a time for slowing down and recovering from an intense year of activity.

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. — Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)

“What makes him special?” asks the radio personality. “I love him so much. He gives me roses,” she shares.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” — Mark 6:31 (NIV)

With sweat streaming down her face, she squatted once again to dig the volleyball and pass it high enough for the setter to position it for spiking over the net.

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” — Isaiah 30:15b

Every time I read this verse, memories of my reluctant submission to the concept of “rest” come flooding back to me. You would have none of it. That had been the convicting part ... that was me.