Betty Whitaker Jackson

Each time I see an opening ceremony for the Olympics, I wish the world could live in peace, with grace toward all. Of course, I know from my Christian perspective, that the Peaceable Kingdom one day will indeed come. It will not be as John Lennon saw it in “Imagine.” At the risk of copyright infringement, I ask you to look up the lyrics. His world is not the one I want to live in.

As I watched the innocence…..

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I think part of keeping vital, even at eighty-one, is having a project which keeps me thinking. I’ve been talking to a book editor friend of mine who tells me a book series means three books. I just finished the second book in my seashell saga “series,” and today will begin the third. I spent a considerable period of time today looking at photos, Bing and Shutterstock, trying to find the cover. That’s always my first step. I looked at…..

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Read Psalm 8 with me:

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

You have set Your glory above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise because of Your enemies, to silence the foes and the avenger.

when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars which You have set in place,

what is man that You are mindful of him, and the…..

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One of the richest blessings of attending church, and there are many, is the benediction at the end of the service. The benediction is to carry us forward as we live our lives outside the sanctuary throughout the coming week.

Today, let us begin the day with this one. “Now, may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times, in every way. The Lord be with you all.”  This one is from 2 Thessalonians 3.

On a…..

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Those of you who are looking for answers in this time of chaos, COVID, and distress, I have a place where you can seek peace, grace, mercy, and truth. Psalm 105: 4-5, 7-8 says: “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He uttered. …He is the Lord our God’ His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers His covenant forever, that word that…..

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A few years ago I wrote a devotional book called “Life-Changing Water: from Chaos to Glory” about how God uses water imagery in the Bible as a metaphor for stages in our lives. An absence of water is life-threatening. So is the absence of God in our lives, in the eternal sense. But God is a God of abundance. Witness the snowfall this weekend. While it is a temporary threat, it is nevertheless a bounty when the summer comes. We…..

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Well, the first month of 2022 has passed. We’ve seen threats of war, more fentanyl deaths than COVID ones, slain police officers, and last night, a freeze in Florida, of all places.

Here’s what God says, and if you’d like to know more about grace, peace, and mercy, go to church today. You’ll hear this message at www.covenantpalmbay.org either in person or online. “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for…..

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It’s fun to celebrate accomplishments. People are made in the image of God, which means they are creative, productive, caring, and observant of everything which is going on around us.

Yesterday my husband and I took at walk in the Melbourne Mall. We weren’t exercising, though my arthritic hip joint felt every jarring step on those tiled floors. We weren’t shopping. We were going to see the artwork produced by Brevard County school children, and one in particular, our granddaughter…..

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Isn’t it great that even when we haven’t seen friends for a while, we are cheered by conversations we have with them, picking up “life” from wherever we last left it and not having concerns about anything but renewing our friendship?

That happened to us a few minutes ago.

We caught up on news, but beneath it all was an abiding mutual love which was refreshed by each other’s presence.

I’m reading lately about people who have strayed away from…..

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As most of you, my readers, know, I write books. Ten years ago, when I retired for the third time, I began by writing a book called “It’s a God Thing!” and now, a decade later, I am about to publish “Cher’s Sea Star Saga” a book about a family who fosters and then adopts children. If I had my life to live over again, I would be that Cher, and my home would be a refuge for children. There…..

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