Posts
Laptop Lessons
Someone once said you never know that God is all you need until God is all you have. I tested this theory recently during a business trip to Moscow. When I stepped off the plane, I was dragging my suitcase in one hand and clutching the business card of someone I had never met in…
Lazy
Picture this: you’re sitting at the kitchen table and need a paper towel from the roll on the counter. Rather than simply stand up and take the one step to reach it, you try to stretch from where you are. Why get up if you don’t have to? Only you can’t…quite…reach… So you scoot the…
Speeding
I have received two speeding tickets in my life. (According to Murphy’s Law, I suppose I should add the caveat “so far.”) The first one was well deserved. I was driving back from a conference in Connecticut to my apartment in western New York. I’d stopped to visit my parents and left way too late. …
Vacation
I gleaned a bit of wisdom recently from one of those “Take This Quiz” articles stamped in the midst of a check-out line tabloid. The quiz wanted me to guess when the greatest benefit of a vacation was realized. Before? During? Immediately after? Having recently returned from a vacation, I can tell you the answer…
Word Shower
Have you ever been walking along the road on a blistering summer day and been overtaken quite suddenly by a cloudburst of rain? There is hardly a cloud in the sky big enough to dictate a rain shower, but here it is, giant drops of rain splashing down all around you, barely strong enough to…
Do It
I am a total Harry Potter fan. I have read every book (multiple times) and frequently find myself pondering one brilliantly penned scene or another. Recently, I found myself contemplating the complexity of a scene at the end of book three. A swarm of dementors are descending upon Harry and his friends, ready to deliver…
Leave It
One of the first commands I ever taught my puppy was “Leave it!” Like a toddler’s newfound use of the word “no,” “Leave it!” quickly became an echoing refrain. Leave the garbage, leave my shoes, leave the cord to my cell phone… It wasn’t long before she knew what it meant. Acting accordingly, however, was…
Bird Talk
Sometimes God speaks to me through birds. I don’t mean in some mystical fashion. A brilliantly plumed creature has never perched upon my shoulder and shouted prophesies. But on more than one occasion, I have felt the nearness of God when looking upon one of his feathered creations. There was a time several years ago…
Lest We Forget
Not too long ago I read Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was perhaps the most horrible book I have ever read. I highly recommend it. If you think that is a contradiction, it is not. The book sat on my bookshelf for several months before I raised the gumption to open it. I…
Do Something With It
In the last couple articles, we looked at the amazing things that occur when we start with what we have and then give it to God. What we haven’t looked at yet is how, in this cycle of receiving and giving, God also expects us to do something with what He gives us. I never…
Search the Blog
Categories
Join the email list to receive the latest post and occasional exclusives
Meet Janet!
Janet Beagle, PhD is the founder of The Mustard Patch. She divides her time between the Midwest and New England, and if she’s not writing, she’s probably out hiking with her 2-and 4-footed friends.