If you sat down to a dinner something like this in the last few days, you are among the most financially wealthy people in the world. As am I. Sometimes it almost seems like a sin, feasting so much—in a way that has nothing to do with whether or not I overeat. But I remember […]
Holiday traditions Read More »
It’s Monday and I awake with a headache, facing too many tasks on too little sleep. We’re headed into the crazy month of August… fire hall training, fostering training, an editing project, a taste-test project, a ten-day visitor, beans and peaches to can, back to school, two weekend trips and a daughter’s birthday. Today I
Do you ever feel out on a limb with God? Scripture is packed with stories of men and women out on limbs and they sure sound great in the telling, several thousand years later, though you can’t help wondering how Abraham felt, exactly, packing up that mountain with his son and a butcher knife how
Did you know that a person’s strengths are often also their weaknesses? You can see it in marriage—a boyfriend is good at captivating his girl with a unique strength that later drives her insane. (Before marriage: “He’s such a music guy.” After marriage: “Does he ever think of anything else?” Before marriage: “Wow, check out
Confession: You wouldn’t expect deep philosophy to come from a 1980’s pop love song by the Nylons, but that’s how a piece of it came to me. The heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you’re loved by others. The first time I heard it I laughed out loud—just
One piece of the puzzle Read More »
Confession: I love communion. I wish we had it every Sunday like Catholics. The Lord Jesus is everywhere in our world, and touches us in a million different ways; but I like to think there are a couple of places He will never miss, a couple of intimate graces that always lead straight into His
Thank you for your beautiful comments. You talked about the components so well. Personality. Failure. Life stages. Good strength versus bad strength. God’s strength versus our own. Well said! Gina also shared some excellent thoughts here. What is the opposite of strength? You mentioned many words—weakness, brokenness, battle, fear, surrender, helplessness, high-maintenance, infirmity, vulnerability. Vulnerability
Strength, weakness, presence Read More »
Thank you so much for your responses! I am in email dialogue with a few of you. Computing… Computing… Compiling… Soon, some more thoughts on blogging. For tonight, Jesus is telling me to publish this, for one of you. ***** What does complete surrender look like? I always thought it meant an open book. An
The breakfast parable Read More »
All the flower shops and chocolate factories are heaving a collective sigh of relief and counting up the dough. We made it. One of my favorite things about Valentine’s Day is watching men with bouquets ducking sheepishly around in stores. They look lovely and fragile and full of hope. The bouquets do too. One of
I awoke one morning heavy, a weight of bad dreams pressing me into the mattress, the voice of the Accuser echoing in the room, hissing, taunting, blaming. His words were lies, all lies. I rose to shake them off, and yet— There was that small grain of truth. Satan is a coward and a cheat.