Join Candice and Me for a Conversation Over Dinner

Meet my friend Candice—vibrant, fun-loving, generous, and loyal. Like a treasured antique, our relationship is a classic, which has withstood the test of time (and geography). Trains, trunks, boxes, suitcases, and moving vans have transported both our families across the globe in different directions. Thankfully, our friendship has survived the chaos of transitions.

Whenever possible, Candice and I relish the opportunity for a visit. Picking up right where we last left off, she and I launch headlong into heart-to-heart sharing.

On one particular evening, she and I sat for one of our marathon dinners. Sensing the gravity of her topic, I put my fork down and gave her 100% focus.

“I am overwhelmed at a recent occurrence God brought about in my life. ”

— Candice Holtz

“I am overwhelmed at a recent occurrence God brought about in my life. Recently, while sitting at a traffic light, I turned my head and noticed a sad sight; a poor woman walked down the sidewalk pushing a grocery cart.”

“Since this was not an area of poverty, her presence stood in stark contrast to her surroundings. Though I pitied her, I pulled away when the light changed and distanced myself from the sight of the poor woman. At least I thought I did.”

“Into the next few blocks, the Holy Spirit began speaking to me. He made it clear that I was to stop, interrupt my busy day, turn around, and go back to that woman. Sensing that the Lord offered no option for me to wiggle out of, I returned, parked my car, and located the woman who had by now rested on a bench.”

“Without fanfare, I pulled out several bills and offered them to her. She looked up at me and said, ‘I didn’t ask you for money.’ ‘I know,’ I said, ‘but the Lord told me to give it to you. In the name of Jesus I offer you this.’ ”

— Candice Holtz

“Without fanfare, I pulled out several bills and offered them to her. She looked up at me and said, ‘I didn’t ask you for money.’ ‘I know,’ I said, ‘but the Lord told me to give it to you. In the name of Jesus I offer you this.’ She hesitantly pulled her hand from her ragged coat pocket and took the cash. I smiled at her, turned, and walked away. Though I regularly drive past that bench, I have never seen her again.”

I sensed that Candice was not done. After pausing to take a swallow of water, she continued.

“I am so excited to share this story with you, Debby, because the episode was totally from the Lord. This was so unlike me. I don’t consider myself to be very compassionate, and normally I wouldn’t have taken the time to be bothered about such a woman.”

Continuing through tears, my friend said, “I truly see Jesus working in my life, softening my heart, and making me more compassionate. I am so excited to see that He is changing me.”

What a story! This incredible example, lifted from the pages of life, displays authentic ongoing growth in Christ.

For a Child of God, growth is the godly, intentional pursuit of Christ-likeness. This spiritual dynamic takes place when we grant the Holy Spirit access to every area of our lives. He involves people; He incorporates community to move us toward His desired outcome.

Candice, thank you for allowing us to see the Holy Spirit at work through your vulnerable, motivational example.

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

“He has also set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

God longs to make us more like Jesus. “For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29a). In your life, what does growth look like?

How do we know if we are, in fact, growing in “the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18)?

Where do you see yourself, like Candice, growing in Christ-likeness?

Consider making a dinner reservation in the near future to discuss the topic with a dear friend.

10 Travel-Tested Tips

Not long ago, I sat beside my granddaughter for our upcoming flight. With a sigh of personal defeat, I said, “Well, Sweetheart, I did it again. I over-packed.”

Without batting an eye, the adorable twelve-year-old looked squarely at me and said, “I over-packed, and I am proud of it.”

““I over-packed, and I am proud of it.””

— My Grandaughter

With my outburst of howling laughter, I marveled. Where was this self-accepting declaration when I needed it years ago? If only.

The scene of humiliation: My innermost beings lay strewn across the tile floor of the airport lobby. The check-in agent had declared my bag overweight, and the painful drama of purging commenced.

The subsequent slinging, flinging, shoving, and stuffing provided entertainment for curious onlookers. Some passengers offered unsolicited bits of advice as they stepped around me. Others glared. A few groaned with sympathy; none were helpful. In a race against the clock, I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath, “If I ever get out of this alive, it will NEVER happen again.”

Thankfully, that disastrous day is a distant memory. After wrestling my suitcase into submission, I managed to make that flight—and many more. Hence, after more than 50 years of travel, I confidently offer these 10 Travel-Tested Tips which hopefully, you find helpful.

1. Pray. Take charge. Don’t overthink; be decisive.

2. Start two days ahead and do your laundry first.

3. Put your suitcase in a separate room other than your bedroom. Place hanging clothes on a door rack to view your choices.

4. Pack in daylight, not at night. Begin by counting out underwear.

5. Use Eagle Creek packing cubes for categories.

6. Think simple, think solids.

7. Minimize shoes. Always take a dress.

8. Remove at least 2 items. Be realistic, but not ruthless. You do need clothes and supplies where you are going.

9. Place a versatile windbreaker and a small empty duffle in the outside pocket of your suitcase.

10. Take my advice and weigh bags at home.

Once the suitcase is zipped and loaded, you can pull up to the airport curb without a knot in your stomach. As the ticket agent smiles at you and says, “Place your luggage here on the scale,” you can confidently look her in the eye, knowing already that you made the cut. Bye-bye bag!

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

My author friend DiAnn Mills offers excellent advice in her recent post, How to Pack for the Perfect Vacation. Click this link to benefit from her experience.

Since you and I connect on multiple levels here, travel and packing are relevant topics. So, tell us,

What is your best packing tip?

Who Was Katherine von Bora?

Katherine von Bora*

1499-1552

“Katherine von Bora Luther left her indelible mark on history. She represented the new spirit of the Reformation, and played no small role in transferring the ideal of Christian service from the cloister to the home.”

— Edith Deen

Meet Katherine von Bora. She was born January 29, 1499, in Lippendorf, Germany, and she entered the convent at age nine. It seemed she would spend her life there and her identity would be that of a nun. The Reformation changed not only her eternal destiny but also changed the course of her life. She became a true follower of Jesus and married the courageous reformer, Martin Luther. He was forty-two, and she was twenty-five. Would the marriage last? “History records that the marriage not only succeeded, but set a high standard for Christian family life for centuries to come.”

“History records that the marriage not only succeeded, but set a high standard for Christian family life for centuries to come.”

— Edith Deen

Katherine cared for her prestigious husband and the bustling household, while also ministering to the needs of people all over Wittenberg, where they lived. She listened to their problems, gave them care and medicine in their sicknesses, counseled them in their sorrows, and advised them in their business affairs. The town recognized that the Luther household was an exemplary Christian home, and much of that success was due to Katherine.

“Martin Luther was generally cheerful and had faith in his God, yet occasionally he became moody. At such times, Katherine sought to comfort and encourage him. Once, when nothing seemed to raise Luther’s spirits, he decided to leave home for a few days to see if a change would help him, but he returned grieved in spirit.

On entering the house, he found his wife seated in the middle of the room, dressed in black, with a black cloth thrown over her head, and looking quite sad. A white handkerchief she held in her hand was damp, as if moistened with tears.

When Luther urged his wife to tell him what was the matter, she replied, ‘Only think, my dear doctor, the Lord in Heaven is dead, and this is the cause of my grief.’

“Only think, my dear doctor, the Lord in Heaven is dead, and this is the cause of my grief.”

— Katherine Luther

He laughed and said, ‘It is true, dear Kate; I am acting as if there was no God in Heaven.’” Luther’s melancholy left him.

None of her [Katherine’s] many sorrows was greater than the loss of her husband in 1546, twenty-one years after their marriage. He had gone to his native town of Eisleben in Saxony to settle disputes between the quarreling counts of Mansfield. Having suffered from ill health for ten years, he was not equal to the severe winter he had to endure there.

Katherine’s deep affection for her husband is expressed in this letter which she wrote to her sister soon after his death:

“Who would not be sorrowful and mourn for so noble a man as my dear lord, who served not only a single land, but the whole world? If I had a principality and an empire, it would never have cost me so much pain to lose them as I have now that our dear Lord God has taken from me, and not from me only, but from the whole world, this dear and precious man.”

“If I had a principality and an empire, it would never have cost me so much pain to lose them as I have now that our dear Lord God has taken from me, and not from me only, but from the whole world, this dear and precious man.”

”

— Katherine Luther

For new strength, Katherine Luther turned to Psalm 31: “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; . . . Deliver me in thy righteousness . . . Be thou my strong rock . . .” (vv. 1-2, KJV).

In 1552, the bubonic plague spread over Wittenberg, and the university was moved to Torgau. Katherine decided to seek refuge in this town to which she had journeyed to safety as a nun almost thirty years earlier. En route, the horses pulling the carriage in which she and her four children were riding became frightened. Anxious for her children’s safety, she jumped out of the fast-moving vehicle and tried to stop the horses, but she fell into a ditch of water.

“Anxious for her children’s safety, she jumped out of the fast-moving vehicle and tried to stop the horses, but she fell into a ditch of water. ”

— Great Women of The Christian Faith

This experience was too much for her gallant spirit. She soon developed bronchial trouble and for several months lay ill, comforting and sustaining herself by praying. She died on December 20, 1552, and joined her husband in their eternal heavenly home.

Katherine von Bora Luther left her indelible mark on history. “She represented the new spirit of the Reformation, and played no small role in transferring the ideal of Christian service from the cloister to the home.”

Note: This glimpse into Katherine’s life is gleaned from Great Women of the Christian Faith by Edith Deen.

Living With Eternal Intentionality®

"He has also set eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11b).

What about this woman stands out to you?

If you could have a conversation with her, what would you like to ask?