In my previous Voice of Grace (9/5/2019), I shared about my lack of discipline in waking up early to go to the gym, looking for any excuse to skip out even though I knew the benefits of having that early morning workout. When COVID-19 shut down the country—including gyms—I acknowledged that I would need even more discipline to develop the …
Hey GRC, If you don’t already know this about me, I really enjoy worshiping with you all every Sunday! And I really hope that comes across consistently, mostly because I believe that is how God has wired me to connect with my fellow believers as we live out our lives in a biblical community (one of our church’s core values!). …
Our family of eight just returned from a 3-month road trip out West. (The handiwork of the Lord declares His glory!) Of course, in order to drive out, we had to limit our belongings to what could fit in or on top of the minivan. Just the essentials. What are the essentials? We learned we could live on a lot …
Countless times when I have recited the Lord’s Prayer, I ask myself, “What does it mean to ‘give us this day our daily bread?” In our culture, we use the word “bread “as a synonym for “money”: the wage earner in our household is called “the breadwinner”. Bread remains, at least in our cultural language, a symbol of rudimentary provision …
Earlier this year I read River-Horse, by William Least Heat-Moon. The book details his voyage across the United States, from Elizabeth, NJ to Astoria, OR in a 22-foot long boat. It’s a very entertaining tale, told by the same man who wrote Blue Highways, his journey of driving across the United States on the backroads. I highly recommend both books. …
Excitement is brewing in the Tyvoll household these days: our one and only (man) child is getting married at the end of the summer. Now, as I’ve attended weddings over the years, I’ve often thought, “Why all this expense to celebrate one day? Is this necessary?” My attitude toward weddings was the same as my attitude towards Christmas. I used …
As I sit outside on this cool summer evening overlooking the beautiful greenery in our backyard, I see the beauty of God’s creation, and I’m reminded of God’s many blessings. Many times, I find it much easier to reflect on troubles and the things I wish were different or the things that “were not supposed to be this way” instead …
Most Christians will automatically think of Jesus from the title, and rightly so, as he is God’s most costly and lavish gift to us! But we will surely be missing the breadth of God’s love if we overlook the gifts He gives to us each day and throughout different stages in our lives. Think of someone that you really tried …
Several years ago, a client – a pest control company – asked me to update its blog with a piece about how mice can crawl into walls and air ducts to die. As their bodies decay, they harm the air quality in the house to the point of causing respiratory problems for its inhabitants. Working on this article was disturbing …
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17) Dear Men of GRC, This is for you. Thursday men’s study (TMS) began after Fred and I started to talk about what would be a good way to engage the men at our church. We decided to start a men’s Bible study on Thursday nights, from 8 PM – …