Posts with the category “proverbs-challenge”

The Book of Proverbs begins with a command to fear the Lord and ends with the description of a woman who fulfills this command. (vv. 10-31). Often when I talk to women about Proverbs 31, this lofty po...  Read More

We all get to a place where we come to the stark realization that we may not be able to answer life’s hardest questions. Such was the realization for Agur, the author of Proverbs 30. He finally had to...  Read More

“Discipline” is a word that without context can be easily misunderstood. For instance, a disciplined athlete, a student, clergy, an organization, an individual adhering to strict dietary restrictions ...  Read More

Having the title of “leader” doesn’t always quality you for, or indicate you are the leader within an organization. John Maxwell calls this “positional leadership” and he claims this is the lowest lev...  Read More

When I was in 4th grade, black canvas vans were all the rage in school. If you were anybody on the playground, you sported those shoes. They were slick and cool and pricey! To authenticate them as “tr...  Read More

There’s nothing like seeing someone make a fool of themselves on national TV to illustrate the danger of giving people undue honor. When we give people respect or admiration they haven’t earned, we se...  Read More

Being an extrovert by nature, it is hard for me to do things alone. I enjoy the company of others, I enjoy spending time with people, investing, deepening and growing relationships. I always joke that...  Read More

I must admit, it feels good to see those who are mean (bullies, dictators, tyrants, cheats, child abusers, rapists, etc.) get what they deserve. The question that challenged me today came through vers...  Read More

On the 23rd day of March, in the 23rd chapter, the 23rd verse caught my eye. (By the way my favorite basketball player of all time wore 23 as well. Any guesses?) "Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wi...  Read More

I recently witnessed a large transaction (exchange of property for money) agreed upon through a simple handshake. No contracts, no paperwork, no problems. I was left in shock when I heard the reasonin...  Read More

There is a plethora of gems in this chapter. I love verses 22 and 31 when taken together. Verse 22 says, one who is wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which ...  Read More

'Tombstone' is a movie that cracks my list of “favorite all-time movies.” During a tense scene in the movie, an outlaw gunman named Johnny Ringo claims that no man can beat him in a gunfight. He throw...  Read More

I recently ran across an article that correlated the required amount of income, per year, per family, in each U.S. State to “make you happy.” This article postulated that there is a threshold of happi...  Read More

I recently found out not all “followers” or “friends” on social media are created equal. In other words, we may have hundreds, even thousands of friends that we may not even know. In fact, there are w...  Read More

I am fascinated by how many of my childhood idols are falling from grace. Most recently Michael Jackson and R. Kelly, but the list goes on to include Bill Cosby, Lance Armstrong, OJ Simpson, Tiger Woo...  Read More

I love the tag-line from the recent Farmers Insurance commercials, “We know a thing or two, because we have seen a thing or two.” Experience is something that can never be taught, it is only acquired ...  Read More

I am convinced that we have lost the art of communication. Sarcasm, irony, mockery and puns, are the “go-to” forms of expression. These play out in the form of hashtags memes and twitter posts. We hav...  Read More

Frank Sinatra had a hit song in 1969 entitled “My Way.” It’s a catchy song you sometimes hear played at funerals. One line in the tune still doesn’t sit well with me, “Regrets, I’ve had a few but then...  Read More

Like a nagging cold, foot-in-mouth illness is something that follows me around. Maybe you can relate? Verse 3 Hit me like a ton of bricks, “Careful words make for a careful life; careless talk may rui...  Read More

“Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” Have you ever heard that proverb? Sounds good, right? Yet, as I think of Jesus and some of the people He rolled with, the proverb falls ap...  Read More

Have you ever seen paintings of rulers, queens or monarchs of old? One thing you often notice is they are somewhat overweight. Okay, fine, some were downright FAT! However, this was a sign of prosperi...  Read More

My son recently asked me to teach him how to wink. Of course, after a couple of failed attempts, the zeal to learn quickly faded. He did ask me what winking meant, and I replied, “That’s a good questi...  Read More

The “Tzitz” (tiara or frontlet) was a small rectangular plate of solid gold, engraved in Hebrew letters with "HOLINESS TO THE LORD." This was worn by the Jewish High Priest on his turban whenever he w...  Read More

I don’t know about you, but I feel good when I have “insider knowledge.” Feeling left out is never a good feeling. It reminds me of coming to America in the first grade and not being able to speak any...  Read More

I overheard someone talk about divorce as being “just another emotion and stage of life that we all must experience to know that we are truly living.” Uh, Sorry…There are some stages of life that I ju...  Read More

I hate ants! Fire ants are the worst! In middle school I once had a rash from a bite that lasted almost 2 weeks (it probably didn’t help that I couldn’t stop itching it). I remember wondering, “why do...  Read More

It may seem strange that after four chapters of telling us why we need wisdom for life, Solomon would jump right into writing almost three chapters on adultery. But remember, the Father writing these ...  Read More

Kintsugi, Is the ancient Japanese art of taking a broken piece of fine china or pottery and putting it back together using molten gold. The broken pottery, although imperfect, increased in value after...  Read More

This chapter is rich with nuggets, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on how God spoke to you through this power-packed chapter. What I love is the appeal to the heart found in v 3. I remember as ...  Read More

Wouldn’t it be cool to be at the Oscars? Okay, maybe not! However, a few years ago I loved seeing Rami Malek be the first man of Egyptian heritage to win best actor. Malek looks nothing like we catego...  Read More

I’m so excited to take this journey with you! Thank you for accepting the challenge. I’ve beenwrestling with this book for two months now and I see the growing impact it has in mymarriage, family, fri...  Read More