- approaching the Isle of Wight You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11 - on the ferry to the IOW As we continue to work our way through all the new photographs from the most recent edition of …
Continue reading New photographs from our adventure to the Isle of Wight
I need to “reblog” this post because the Airbnb owners read my original review and quickly followed through with an unexpected and generous response. Kudos to them, and “thanks” – Derek
“Come, you who are blessed by theLord,”he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
Genesis 24:31
The past few weeks have seen an overwhelm of interesting content for me to publish. This long hot summer has involved celebrations, travel, reunions, family, mountains, waterfalls, vacationing, and returning the grandchildren to their new home in Orlando.
One huge positive has come from our first ever Airbnb experience. So I’m going to write this post as kind of an informal, anecdotal review.
I have always felt that hotel rooms are lacking. Especially when traveling with children. They tend to be so impersonal and restrictive. So this time, knowing we had several nights in the mountains, I did some research on what it might look like to rent a house.
First, I was…
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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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Derek Maul: Words, Photographs, and Food for the Journey 