by Don Freeman | Jan 9, 2024 | Devotional
“You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose...
by Don Freeman | Jan 6, 2024 | Devotional
Once upon a time in a world long ago, one could hear the gentle request: ‘A penny for your thoughts.’ I’m not sure how much inflation has impacted that amount, or if there is a today version of it, but when someone asks that of me, I often find myself drawing a blank,...
by Don Freeman | Jan 4, 2024 | Devotional
It’s inspiring to spend time with someone focused on a big goal. A big goal quietly excludes many lesser ones. Bodybuilders avoid empty carbs. Solo musicians carve out large chunks of time daily for practice. Olympic athletes likewise devote massive amounts of...
by Don Freeman | Jan 2, 2024 | Devotional
To be sure, there are bumper stickers to suit every taste, and Sunday, on our way home from lunch after church, we saw a new one which read: ‘Cool! This calls for a spreadsheet!’ One instantly wonders about the person who chose it. While I might surmise we have little...
by Don Freeman | Dec 30, 2023 | Devotional
A couple of years ago, Vineyard USA Coaches offered to provide three pastoral coaching sessions for free to interested pastors. I jumped at the chance and found myself in monthly Zoom meetings with a coach and two other pastors. The coach’s name was Stacie Seaman....
by Don Freeman | Dec 28, 2023 | Devotional
Think of birth announcements you’ve received. They read something like this: Timothy and Mackenzie are pleased to announce the arrival of Zander Boris, weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz., at 19 ½ inches long. Or maybe this: Ethan and Mallory are thrilled that Morgann Esther showed...
by Don Freeman | Dec 26, 2023 | Devotional
Such a frail lot we’ve all become! We prepare for Christmas for the four weeks of Advent, then take a whopping 24 hours to ‘celebrate’ Christmas. Today, the second day of Christmas, is, for many, back to work as usual, time to put away the decorations, toss the tree...
by Don Freeman | Dec 23, 2023 | Devotional
To one group, the word evokes feelings of warm, loving, belonging with safety, abundance, and cherished family that, even in adulthood, have the lasting power to wrap themselves around one’s heart like a warm and cozy blanket. To a second group, the word conjures...
by Don Freeman | Dec 21, 2023 | Devotional
Here’s an Advent meditation to be read slowly, attentively, as you might read a poem by your favorite poet, anticipating the exquisite joy of discovering greater depths of meaning as you read it over several times. What images have a particular impact as you read?...
by Don Freeman | Dec 19, 2023 | Devotional
“All You Need Is Love.” So sang a British Boy Band in 1967. Of course, they meant fuzzy, warm feelings – and lots of sex. The adolescent world at the time went crazy with the song and the band. And the reason for the overnight, screaming success of the song and the...
