Why Falling Flat is A Holy Experience
We call him Mr. Lime because he’s the brightest of all on the slopes, dressed in brilliant green to match his Burton board. He reminds me often that he’s not one of us. “I’m a BOARDER, Mom! Not a SKIER!” “Yes dear, you’re not like the other four of us. I forgot. Once again.” He […]
Thoughts on Death and Life in a Cold and Frozen Forest
As part of the slide into slow this new year, I ran away. Actually, I drove away with my husband to Door County, the thumb of Wisconsin separating two bodies of water—Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We strapped on our cross-country skis and headed into the woods. Sun shining. Not a bit of breeze. Every […]
On the Edge: How Now Shall We Live?
Here is the world. You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time, you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. Frederick Buechner Our float plane’s […]
Why We Really Need Jesus To Clean Us
The older I get, the more I recognize my depravity, the deep-down dirty of my thoughts, words and deeds, of my even deeper motivations and instincts. And the older I get, the more I know my need of Jesus. Kind of like Paul in Romans . . . I do not understand what I do. […]
Let the Bullets Fly!
Like many, I have been grieving over all the bullets flying. Bullets made with lead. Bullets made with words. Both wounding, maiming, destroying. Seems to be increasing. The murders. The hate. The protests. The terror. What’s one to do? I say, act like a dog . . . Yesterday morning as I lay in bed […]
Character Matters
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 That storm rolled in like a freight train yesterday. Saw the dark, ominous locomotive rumbling fast from the west. Ran to […]
True Independence
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 Today is Independence Day, 2016. For starters, I reread the Declaration of Independence (click to read) and familiarized myself with the reasons we separated ourself from England in 1776. One word . . . […]
At the End of My Rope and What Came Next
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 I have a love/hate relationship with spiritual growth. Actually, I prefer to do things I love. I prefer to […]
What are We Waiting For?
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 A continuation from Monday’s post . . . Back to Benghazi, which is just a reflection of reality, now . . . Hate spreading hate. Violence spreading violence. I’m not trying to […]
Massacres and Scepters
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and […]
How to Stop the Erosion and Fortify Your Soul
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 I’m sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan this morning. All […]
Much Mulch
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. […]