The Word Worker

Category: Nonfiction

  • Mama’s Terrible, Horrible, No-good, Very Bad Day

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    We all have them. The days that you know you should have just stayed in bed. Instead you dragged yourself out of the comfy covers and made your sleepy, grumpy kids follow suit. The day that your morning prayer with the kids is an exercise in desperation because in the ten minutes you’ve been awake…

  • Ruts

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    wordworkerrussell
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    My husband and I love to go fourwheeler riding. Anyone who does any kind of off-road riding knows that trails develop because they have been driven over. Someone found a way through the woods or whatever terrain and others followed the tracks because the first person proved that path was passable. Enough vehicles pass that…

  • Follower of Jesus

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    wordworkerrussell
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    Have you ever thought about the disciples of Christ as human beings? People just like you? Can you recognize the following descriptions based on what we know about them from scripture? Do you recognize yourself? Might Jesus have called you if you lived in first century Palestine? A blue-collar worker, impulsive and outspoken, trying to…

  • Peacemakers

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    wordworkerrussell
    in ,

    “…through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood…” Colossians 1:20 CSB “Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father,…

  • The School Closet

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    wordworkerrussell
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    Homeschooling is such a fluid undertaking. Unlike in a traditional classroom, where teachers repeat roughly the same lesson plans and teach the same skills year after year, homeschooling goalposts shift constantly as children develop and learn. Although some families maintain special “schoolrooms,” most of us don’t have the space in our homes for such a…

  • Kingdom

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    wordworkerrussell
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    Throughout history, people have defined themselves by physical boundaries. We have the God-given need to draw together for support, companionship, and productivity. Nations form based on common location, following leaders who either appeal to a common goal or claim power to exert their own desires on others. As goals change and leaders die, these boundaries…

  • Memories

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    wordworkerrussell
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    My youngest turned five this week. It’s an odd feeling to realize my last baby is now officially school-age. I thought about trying to throw a big bash to mark such a momentous occasion, but with all the fullness of life we have going on right now that just wasn’t gong to happen. Fortunately she…

  • The Forgiven Debt

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    wordworkerrussell
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    A man owed billions of dollars to his employer. As a minimum wage earner, his chances of paying off such an astronomical debt were nonexistent. His employer, in an attempt to recover at least some of his money under the laws of his country, decided to sell the man and his family as slaves and…

  • Gathered

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    wordworkerrussell
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    ecclesia – translated “church” in English language Bibles – a summoned assembly, a gathering of people for a purpose “And I also say unto you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not over power it.” Matthew 16:18 “He will lift up a…

  • Folded Paper

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    wordworkerrussell
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    What image comes to mind when you imagine a person who likes origami (the art of paper folding, in case someone doesn’t know)? I can tell you I did not envision my nine year old son’s face. I was wrong. I’m not even sure how he was exposed to the idea, but for about two…