For When You Feel Like A Failure: Kingdom Economics 101
At 3:10 PM, he clomped up those steps to the library, not with his usual enthusiasm. He plopped down in the yellow chair, right by our second-story fireplace, right across from my light blue Lazy Boy where I sit reading, waiting for him. I sensed him. Something was wrong. ”Hi! How was your day?” “Not […]
When Black and White Mix With God, What Happens?
When worlds collide, what happens? Things can get ugly, even deadly, quickly. Then again . . . When worlds collide, what happens? God’s kingdom can expand. Last week, black met white as we marked our 8th annual Nature Camp here on our 44 acres of country. Long before we moved to this farm, we drove […]
On Our Knees—Together, Part 2
We need to stand in the gap for the vulnerable and give them the best news of life—the gospel. This piece is the continuation of Wednesday’s post about the boy who threatened to kill our son, his friend, his biological father, and himself. He had a plan. He was serious. He was a desperate, hurting soul. […]
A Stunning Love
“I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and […]
Prickly Pear
Even prickly pears bloom. My mother passed away in the dark of the night, just a few hours after Mother’s Day ended. Thirteen years ago, this year. I talked to her early on Mother’s Day. She was so excited about the bouquet of red carnations I ordered and sent the day before. I had told […]
Connection with God and Others
She opens a spiral notebook and shows me a cross she drew. I saw her pain on the page. Not like she fell apart or anything. No one would ever know. I’ve known her for a long time, but I’ve not really known her. It’s just that when one has been hurt so deeply for […]
People Walking in Darkness
Oh, the times are dark . . . We are marching toward the darkest day of the year, December 21, and I am consumed with darkness. I rise in the dark. I make dinner in the dark. There are even some places on earth even darker than Wisconsin! Like Alaska. People consumed in darkness struggle […]
Fake or Real?
This seems to be the prominent question when it comes to Christmas décor. One of my friends walked into our kitchen yesterday and admired an arrangement I had made. As she asked whether it was real or artificial, she reached out and touched the branches. “Oh, it looked so real!” The branches felt fake so […]
Running on Empty?
Today is the day for emptying. I’ll give you the pretty and spare you the other. Let’s just say that the “prep process” has begun for my procedure early tomorrow—the one I’ve been avoiding for FIVE YEARS. Since we’ve blown through our insurance deductible for the year, we’re racing to the finish, scheduling as many […]
Beautiful Dying
Here on the farm the dying has begun. And dying can be quite beautiful, actually. Brilliant dogwood flaming red, yellowing aspens and birch, sugar maples blazing orange—all stand center stage against blue sky backdrop. Because they’re dying. They’re bleeding out green, being replaced with orange, red, yellow. Those turning are not exactly more beautiful—just a […]
Independence Day
Today is Independence Day—for one I love deeply. But that independence has been blurred for so long—too long . . . Hopes for family and a dog and a white picket fence—they can blur reality beyond just a bit. Too many long and grueling years spent with one who is not meant for marriage yet, […]
Transparency
Disclaimer: Do not read if you are uncomfortable with REAL—with TRANSPARENT. Then again, maybe it might be good to stretch beyond comfort zone . . . to see the beauty of transparent? He held the wheel with one hand driving the two of us home last night. And I sat numb, looking at the bruised sky […]