My kids got me an expensive, broad-brimmed sun hat for my birthday. Afraid it would blow away when the wind was up, I took it to a tack shop to have grommets put in. As I stood there enjoying the smell of the saddles, bridles, belts and other leather goods surrounding me, the proprietor brought back my hat, now with a leather string through the new grommets. When I asked him how much I owed, he said, “Nothing.” I protested, “Oh, but….” He cut me off. “No arguing. It’s not going to get any cheaper.” People like that make me love living in Texas!

Theologians argue about the idea of universal salvation or universalism. Some insist all will be saved and others point to the Bible and say no, the sheep and the goats will be separated, and the wheat divided from the tares. Though certainly not a theologian, my belief is that God is in one sense a universalist. Why? Because God wants everyone, from Hitler to Osama bin Laden, in his Kingdom. Jesus died to save every human being who has ever lived, past, present and future. When he hung on that cross and forgave those who put him there, it was us. He forgave all of us. We are all forgiven. Yet, God didn’t create robots. We have the freedom to choose. Implausible as it is, though God wants everyone saved, Scripture indicates some will stubbornly turn away and refuse his free gift of salvation.

As I thank God for air conditioning during this north Texas heat wave (and pray for rain), when I grew up in East Texas, we survived without AC. We had fans, of course, but not much use against the heat and humidity of East Texas. Our survival secret was iced tea—real iced tea brewed from tea leaves and sugar-sweetened in the pan while still hot. My grandmother had an aluminum pitcher in her refrigerator that was always filled with ice tea. I remember the condensation glistening on it as she poured tea over ice cubes in our glasses. Back then, the first action taken when you had a visitor was to offer them a cool glass of iced tea. Texans may be kidded about their iced tea, but it’s no joke. That’s how we survived!

Have you ever had a day when you feel you’ve let God down? You pray, but what comes to mind is a god who is being slightly aloof. My Holy Spirit gave you that nudge but you ignored it. You knew exactly what you should have done. Now you want to be back in my good graces. Good luck with that! If that’s what comes to mind, that’s a totally wrong picture of who God is. We have a Savior who knows personally how weak we are. Just as a good parent picks up and comforts a child who falls down and skins a knee, our loving Savior holds out his arms to us. When we fail, he is right there to pick us up, hold us and comfort us. Like the prodigal son we are forgiven before we ask. We are precious in his sight. Thank you, our loving, gracious God!

While reading through the wonderful praises to God in the Psalms, I thought I would like to write a psalm too. But how does one go about writing a psalm? Yes, I looked it up on the internet and was surprised to find all kinds of information on how to write a psalm. There was even a form available. The format is a good one to use for prayer too: recognize God’s goodness, express gratitude, praise God, list blessings and end by affirming his goodness. Of course, not all psalms are praise psalms, some are laments. But there was info on how to write those too. Obviously I wasn’t the first to come up with the thought. There can’t be too many psalms praising our holy God!

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” I’m sure not the hero in my life, and I don’t think of myself as a victim either. But, reading this quote from screenwriter and journalist Nora Ephron made me think about heroes. My first hero was probably my dad. My dad was smart and he could do anything, from overhauling our old car to making me a whistle out of a willow branch. He was a carpenter, plumber, electrician and overall handyman, all in one. Later I had comic book heroes like Spiderman and Superman too, and some sports figures. But none of these were the hero I needed in my life. Even my dad couldn’t be there for me all the time. The one who has always been there for me, providing for me, protecting me, rescuing me, is my Savior. Jesus is my Hero!

A new house is going up near where I live. First a lot of trees were removed. Then workers put together a wooden form. I thought it was for the concrete base, but it wasn’t. They had carefully measured and built the wooden form to show how uneven the ground was underneath, so truckloads of fill dirt could come in to level the ground. The fill dirt is not sand, either, like the soil common to our area. All this preliminary work takes time but shows how important a good foundation is to a building. No matter how well the house is built, if the foundation is faulty, the whole structure is at risk. It’s a good reminder.  Spiritual houses, if they are to stand, must be firmly founded on Jesus Christ, the solid Rock of our salvation.

Do you ever wonder why as Christians we still sin? We’re in Christ and he’s in us. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us. Yet, we still sin. Maybe I should ask, why do I still sin. It’s not as if I don’t know right from wrong. When I responded to my Savior’s call to repentance, I expected a transformation in my life. So why do I continue to have to struggle, and sometimes lose the battle, against sin. We can be thankful our merciful Savior recognizes our plight. He’s been there. He was both God and human and struggled powerfully against every temptation to sin. He overcame sin perfectly and he did it for us. He knew we could not of ourselves conquer sin. Though we may not see the transformation in ourselves, in Christ we are totally forgiven and sin free. Thank you, Lord!

Flashing lights ahead, lots of them! Along with the police cars and firetrucks were pickups with horse and cattle trailers attached. As I slowly drove by I saw an overturned cattle truck. Men were working with a couple of cows down in a ditch alongside the truck. Those were the only cows I saw but two saddled horses were tied to a nearby fence so others may have been rounded up. The police probably know who to call when they have a loose cattle problem. Whenever I pass a wreck on the highway, I always pray for those involved and that includes animals as well as humans.

If you could see me, you might wonder about the reddish spots on my face. No, not acne at my age, I’ve made my annual visit to the dermatologist. The doctor asked if I cared if she used her freeze gun on me. I laughed and said, “Yes, I care!” It must have been a rhetorical question, because she zapped me anyway.  I’m paying now for the years of sun damage done when I was young. It made me think of why God has all those warnings in Scripture against sin. Sin, like deep summer tans, may seem fun at the time, but sin has consequences. God hates sin because sin hurts his children! Though our loving, merciful God has forgiven us, we may still have to suffer the consequences of our sins.