by Elaine Olsen | Oct 1, 2016 | conviction, discipleship, fellowship with God, God's voice, God's Word, kingdom, living God's truth, ministry life, obedience, truth, words
My students and I have just finished reading Song of the Brook by Matlida Nordtvedt. As literary prose goes, it doesn’t measure up to the classics, but it does serve a purpose in our classroom. It’s one book in a continuing series of books presented annually to...
by Elaine Olsen | Jun 28, 2016 | creation, family fun, fellowship with God, grace, joy, knowing God, parenting, peace, thanksgiving, worship
These are days of plenty. This is a season of more-than-enough. This is holy generosity dispensed to me by the King. This isn’t a season of less-than, although as of late I have been tempted to argue otherwise: • Aging parents and accumulating needs making their...
by Elaine Olsen | Jan 9, 2016 | fellowship with God, God's Word, holiness, living God's truth, words
Words. Spoken. Written. Thought. Some beautiful. Some bitter. And others, somewhere in between. All words? Powerful. Why? Because they are attached to the heart. “ … For out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks.” –Luke 6:45 The words that grow in our hearts,...
by Elaine Olsen | Aug 4, 2015 | calling, faith, fellowship with God, God's Word, knowing God, pilgrimage
“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.” –Luke 10:38 I listened to my daughter read this familiar story to me a few days ago. She was draped across my bed, dressed and ready for the...
by Elaine Olsen | Jul 20, 2014 | book special, contests, faith, fellowship with God, God's voice, knowing God, living God's truth, obedience, peace, peace for the journey, pilgrimage, trust
I came across a verse this Sabbath afternoon while working my way through HeBrews: a Better Blend. I don’t think my author-friend, Leah, meant for me to park my thoughts at this particular verse for any length of time; nevertheless it parked alongside me, keeping...
by Elaine Olsen | May 21, 2014 | courage, creation, fellowship with God, peace, pilgrimage, provision, rest, trust
This has been my saving grace in this season. Mind you, not the grace that saves me from my sin but, rather, the grace that keeps my sanity intact. Whenever the stressors in my life seem too big and my capacity for handling them feels too small, I strap on my tennis...