I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. Isaiah 66:12 For the final few Nikon DSLR photos remaining, I'll take us back to Savannah (and also to the beautiful view from our airbnb in the mountains). It's …
Rebekah and I made good time Tuesday, heading to our Western North Carolina retreat, so we decided to give our two eldest grandchildren their first taste of PC(USA) Valhalla. Yes, I'm talking about Lake Susan and the Montreat Conference Center just east of Asheville. At first David and Beks were like, "That's an interesting stone …
Continue reading Mountains, Montreat, Maggie Valley, and Making Memories
I know it sounds crazy, but today marks one full year since Rebekah’s epic retirement day, August 1, 2021!
It’s been a HUGE twelve months, absolutely full of so much adventure. But the memory of last year’s generous, emotional, Spirit-filled celebration remains fresh and vital.
So it is worth sharing again. This blog was my initial reaction, posted the next day. But in many ways we are still processing what it means to have moved into this stage of life and ministry.
In all things we remain blessed. And, may God continue to bless the awesome gathering of saints at WFPC! – Derek
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart.- Philippians 1:3-7
Note to whoever is reading this morning (friends; family; church members; casual readers; blog-surfers, Russian hackers…): This past weekend is going to take a while to process; Sunday…
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- writer Derek Maul with youngest grand July 2022 offered a lot of amazing images, so selecting a representative grouping has been a real challenge. What I want to get across is the power of so many stories weaving their way through my life. They are all distinct, and - in their own way - …
I always love telling this story.
The participants are: Rebekah, her dad, the unfortunate young man who imagined himself my rival, and – remotely, over in England – me.
Enjoy this classic from 1977 – via 2020. – DEREK
“Happy birthday” to Rebekah; I am blessed to be saying it for the 44th time! If anyone should have a day filled with joy, peace, rest, and blessings, then it is my amazing wife. Now if we could only get together with those beautiful grandchildren…
I have a great story from that first “Happy Birthday,” back in 1977:
Rebekah and I had been dating five months, and I was in England for part of the summer. I sent a birthday card, but the mail being what it is the greeting failed to arrive on time.
Meanwhile, my future father-in-law was concerned. By this time Bob Alexander actually liked me (which is a whole other story..), and because of this he was unhappy about a young man who was – unsuccessfully – vying for Rebekah’s attention. Rick waged a summer-long campaign culminating with a dozen beautiful red roses sent to the…
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“In those coming days,” says the Lord,“the people of Israel will return home together with the people of Judah.They will come weeping and seeking the Lord their God.They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again.They will bind themselves to the Lord with an eternal covenant that will never be forgotten.Jeremiah 50:4-5 - Aleta, Rebekah, Mac Sunday morning it was …
Continue reading Derek & Rebekah go to Church… Standing Up!!!!
March 12: The passage of time is sometimes difficult to grasp. So it is hard to believe that it has been ten years since my brother Geoff completed the earthly part of his journey and slipped away into eternity.
This post from 2012 is both a powerful memory and a very real invitation into life today.
Peace – DEREK
If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. – Romans 14:8
Geoff (and Maggie) in September 2011, the day we started our ongoing series of interviews
This is going to be a hard post to do right. But I have to try. This blog is where I do a lot of my processing of life, my thinking out loud. And you, those curious enough to read over my shoulder, are a huge part of how I write and how I continue to grow. Thanks so much for being a part of me.
I lost an important part of me around 8:15 yesterday evening. My brother, Geoff, is just plain gone.
Oh, I understand the fact that Geoff is – and always will be – a critically important element of what…
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It’s International Women’s Day! Here are my thoughts from five years ago – definitely IMHO worth another look – DEREK
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:28
To be honest, International Women’s Day hadn’t even been on my radar this week. Sure, I’m a huge fan of equal rights, and of women in general, but I don’t live in a milieu where – for the most part – gender-based oppression is systemic, systematic, “in your face” blatant. And so, as it often tends to go with me, the issue slips off my radar.
Then, opening Google for the first time this morning, the search bar subtitle grabbed my attention: “Celebrate the women who inspire us every day. #HerVoiceIsMyVoice”
So, and in response to that prompt – BTW, thanks, Google – here’s a short post doing exactly that.
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We are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.Ephesians 2:10 So I had an interesting thought this weekend. It was Saturday evening, after one of the more difficult caregiving 24-hours I have experienced in a while. The …
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.Colossians 1:27 The “Derek & Rebekah go to church” series has been on hiatus since late November, when we settled on HMPC and stopped being Sunday morning butterflies. - This …
Continue reading Derek & Rebekah go to church… in Washington
Derek Maul: Words, Photographs, and Food for the Journey 