Save, Now!
I waved a palm on Sunday. Placed in golden windows, backlit by the sun, palms lined our church on both sides as we walked the aisle to worship Jesus, the Savior of our souls—and our world . . . Nineteen years ago, I stood on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane where […]
Faith in the Ice Storms of Life
The rain came pouring down. At 2 AM, I wake to God’s fingers sifting crystal beads onto roofs of house and barn. Horses are shedding winter coats. I wonder where they stand during this dark, icy night. Are they out vulnerable in the paddock, frozen rain pelting their bodies? Or have they sought shelter in […]
Life Fires
Our first hikes together were on St. Petersburg sidewalks, my husband and I and our about-to-be-adopted children. We all held hands and meandered through a park where we skipped stones on the pond and all spoke with each other in Russian. We walked every day while waiting for our court date to become a legal family. […]
Up Close with Tulips
After saying I was making some changes in my blog posting schedule and content, I’ve learned from life that it’s best to end every good and stated plan with “God willing”. I’ve had some writing interruptions last week but there is no greater joy than engaging in God’s divine appointments. Two stories from Thursday and Friday and an inner garden […]
How to Have a Joyous Heart
I’ve been writing about contrasts. We often think of contrasts as opposites so far away from each other that they never touch. Instead, contrasts are often so close that the balance of our lives depends on them holding hands, becoming pivotal points of growth. One without the other is just plain impossible. Saint Catherine of […]
FIRE!
I’m steeping in suffering, reading sociological, psychological, historical, and theological research and writings on the subject. Tim Keller, my favorite contemporary author, wrote a whole book last year, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, where he views the subject of suffering from different vantage points and offers sound advice about how to deal with it in ways […]
All the Way
Why do we turn away from suffering? Is it because we don’t we want to hear about it, read about it, look upon it? Perhaps you’re tempted to stop reading right now. Have you had just about enough on the topic of suffering? If we turn away, will suffering go away? We hope. But it doesn’t. […]
Get Real and Heal
Ok. So here I go again, getting all vulnerable and transparent. I hate it. And I love it. I hate it because why in the world would anyone want to expose themselves for anyone and everyone to see, to know? Because such raw exposure can have devastating consequences. For heaven’s sake! Someone I don’t know […]
Finding Purpose in the Sick and Tired
I have been sick and tired. Literally. For exactly two weeks as of today. I’m familiar with respiratory ailments like bronchitis and I’ve even had pneumonia a couple times in the past but nothing has ever leveled me like what turned out to be Influenza A. I’ve always wondered why people die from the flu. […]
Fallen
God, I thank you for the respite from daily toils and cares You gave us last week. And I thank you for the fall . . . All five of us got to get away, way up north, just over the border of Wisconsin and into the western tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Big Powderhorn […]
How to Get Real with Your Maker
Lament. To express grief for or about. To mourn. Sometimes when you’re in the midst of darkness, you can’t see the light shining behind. It’s there. But you can’t see the sun. You can’t feel the warmth. All seems like shadow and you wonder if the clouds will ever roll away, like your soul just […]
Jesus and Jenga
Baby, it’s cold outside! Time for some inside fun—or not! We’re playing Jenga—that tower building game where you remove one block at a time and place it on top until the whole thing tumbles with a terrifying bang that sends the poor dog low-tailing it to the far corner of the house every single time. […]