“Play something for me,” directed Professor Spector at my first piano lesson at Pittsburg State. I launched into parts of Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique. I say “parts” because my previous piano teacher had wanted two of us to play the sonata at her recital, so she had divided it between us.

Deadline for a book I was writing was looming, and despite my faithfully writing, it seemed I could not pull together my random thoughts. One day nearly overcome with discouragement, I walked into the guest room, looked at an open Bible, and read, “Make this valley full of ditches” (2 Kings 3:16). My first thought was, This doesn’t apply to my situation.

Several decades ago my mother, a widow, decided to move to Kansas City to be closer to us. She moved thinking she had a job at the Kansas University Medical Center library. When she arrived she learned that she could not work there because she was not a Kansas resident. She was disappointed. What should she do? She drew a poem from her promise box:

“Lord, what should we sing?”a song evangelist prayed before he and his wife were to sing in a special service.

The Spirit impressed upon him, “I want to hear you sing, “My Jesus I Love thee.”

When Joan was asked to speak to a group of young women in her church, she became aware of a weakness—buying clothes. She wanted to be a good role model to them in all areas, including clothing. She began contemplating not buying any new clothes for a year.

Oswald Smith said that to be filled with the Word is the same as being filled with the Spirit. In Acts these two terms appear to describe a single truth. Peter stated that the Gentiles “have received the Holy Spirit” (10:47). A few verses later, he stated it differently: “The Gentiles had received the word of God” (11:1).

“I want to hold the things of this world loosely,” my father often said when I was growing up. To do that, we live, perhaps unconsciously, making our choices on the basis of this question: “In eternity’s light, what will have seemed important?”

Ten years ago, my husband developed an eye problem that seemed to be likely to cause him to retire. His eyes were so dry they became extremely light sensitive. It was almost impossible for him to look at computer screens or tolerate being in brightly-lit rooms.