I’ve been sitting on my recliner, reading my father’s poetry and his grandfather’s poetry. My dad — Marion R. Thomas. My great-grandfather — Daniel Driver Thomas. I never met Daniel Driver, but I heard about him from my father. Dad loved and respected his family members. Dad loved and enjoyed God’s world. I even found a poem he wrote entitled, ” Come, Celebrate Grass” ( 40 lines about his lawn, written around 1987). Two posts ago, I gave you the beginning of Dad’s poem entitled, “Suppose.” Here is the entire poem, written in the 1940’s: Continue reading
Author Archives: Karen Thomas Olsen
The Rest of Dad’s Poem
Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Tags: Marion R. Thomas
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Everything For Our Enjoyment
I was struck this morning by this clause in I Timothy 6:17: “…God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” He provides for more than our needs; He provides for our joy. Our five senses do more than inform us. I hear music — soothing or invigorating. I see colors in interesting patterns with light and shadow — delighting and inspiring. I smell, I feel, I taste…. While my senses can respond in crass carnality, He designed them to point me to Himself, the Creator, and to cause me to joy. This joy is a worshipful response of confident trust in and extreme admiration for our LORD. Selah
The Indwelt Word + Experience = Christ-living. So this morning, Continue reading
Getting Home Before Dark
Some of the best reads for any of us are the journals and writings of our ancestors. My father died ten years ago this July. Does that make Dad my ancestor? According to Webster’s, yes. I tend to think of ancestors as people who lived generations ago, not my own dad — the man whose expressive face is as clear as the sound of his hearty laughter saved in my mind, the man who picked me up and carried me to the house when I fell off my bike, the man on whom I leaned my head and rested as he drove us home after church on Sunday evenings. . . .
Dad is now my ancestor, certainly my children’s and grandsons’ ancestor. So, his writings are now more valuable. Here is one of his poems Continue reading
When Overwhelmed, Distracted, Frenzied, What to do, What to do?
So many things to think about, so many things to do, so many things to read, so many viewing options, so much world conflict, so much local trouble, so many broken souls, so many fractured lives, too many broken promises, too few believable voices, too many options at the grocery store, so many restaurants to enjoy, so many toxins in food and environment, too few reliable sources of anything, so much disappointment through experience, yet so much hope in youthful vigor, too few stable anchors, but then only One is needed.
Take a breath!
Most generations concur: Continue reading
This Incredibly Extravagant Generosity of God
Here is a beautiful description of God’s grace and the gospel of Christ: “This incredibly extravagant generosity of God.” From Acts 20:24, this is the way an older pastor and Bible scholar interprets-translates the ending of Acts 20:24, describing the Apostle Paul’s gospel-sharing calling. 1
The Via Dolorosa – The Way of Christ’s Suffering 
Jesus In; His Attributes Coming Out
Hello!!!! “I’m back from the Front, Old Top!”
That is an old saying from World War I. I learned it from my dad who heard it from his dad who was a WWI vet. When a soldier said it, he’d hit his friend on his back, then his front, and then would pat his head — “I’m back from the Front, Old Top!” I too say it occasionally, but without the gestures.
Paul sharing the gospel with a young man who prayed to receive Christ at the mission’s Salsa Festival on March 29.
So, we’re back from Florida where we spent 17 days at the Good Samaritan Mission. Wow! Continue reading
The Makings of a Christian Mind
Harry Blarmires, Charlotte (from Charlotte’s Web), and Frank Lloyd Wright. What do they have in common?
In my last post, I closed by asking, “Do you have a truly Christian mind?” In this post, I simply want to list the six characteristics of a Christian mind that Harry Blarmires describes in his book, The Christian Mind (first published in 1963). Continue reading
Do You Have a Christian Mind?
Today, I want to share with you a YouTube video and a book. Both address the meaning of life, though in different ways. You may want to listen to the YouTube presentation first and then consider the book, or at least the theme of the book. Continue reading
Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth
Tags: Christian Mind, Harry Blamires
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Reads N Deeds: Biography and Music
“When I get a little money, I buy books. If any is left, I buy food and clothes.”
Erasmus (1466-1536)
I resonate with Erasmus’ attitude about books — well, with a twist to it. When Paul and I have house shopped, one of my first concerns has been a good room for our library. I praise God that I have never had to choose between reading and eating! You know the two are much alike. We eat for the body and read for the soul. Yum. Of course, God made this comparison millennia ago (Ezekiel 3:1-3; Rev. 10:10). Today, let’s consider two nutritious books.
Journey North Character 