Gaining a heart of wisdom
Standing at the water’s edge with the big fluffy towel is one of the perks of being Gram. I can wrap Raymond from head to toe in warmth and snuggle him in my beach chair while his mum and dad enjoy some grown-up swim time. The problem is that, these days, Raymond is not interested… Continue reading Held
Two weeks into the Beatitudes with my Sunday School class, and my ear is finally becoming accustomed to the cadence of another Kingdom, one in which those who are meek and mournful are pronounced fortunate -- even happy. All of this is a fitting backdrop for reading Joshua Choonmin Kang's Spirituality of Gratitude. His collection… Continue reading The Language of Thanksgiving
For the past twenty-one years, my designated occupation on our tax forms and all official (and unofficial) documents has been "domestic diva." Given the flashy title, my house should look a lot better than it does, but my fierce and steadfast focus within that job title has been to raise four young men to love… Continue reading Love Them Into Being
The only thing better than a good biography is SEVEN good biographies, and that's what Eric Metaxas offers in 7 Women and the Secret of Their Greatness. Through touching down at seven distinct historical and geographical points, my mind was coaxed beyond its tendency to "see everything in the dark glass of [my] own era, with… Continue reading Seven Women. Seven Virtues.
A journey through cancer and a journey of joy would seem to be two very divergent paths -- particularly if the cancer is terminal and if it hits in the midst of a season of health and productivity. However, Steve and Sharol Hayner have invited readers into their experience of Joy in the Journey --… Continue reading Finding Abundance in the Shadow of Death
We’re having a tiny drought here in Maine – nothing like the raging, fire-breathing variety that has been defoliating the West Coast. Even so, in these end-of-summer days, my garden and I are feeling this word: LACK As I haul plastic jugs of water that will rescue the geranium, restore the sunflowers, and rejuvenate the… Continue reading A Watered Garden in Time of Drought
It's become a cliché, really. "Wait on God." In the glib heart, it's an all purpose non-answer. It's what we say when we don't know what to say. In Waiting on God: What to Do When God Does Nothing, Wayne Stiles opens the lens of Scripture to take in the Old Testament life of Joseph and de-formulizes that… Continue reading Wisdom for Waiting: Ten Lessons from the Life of Joseph
As a child of the Cold War era, I learned a chilling fascination for anything to do with "The Iron Curtain." When my high school music teacher started spending her summer vacations on short-term missions trips to Eastern Europe, I was certain that I, too, would be called to minister in lands closed to the… Continue reading Brother Andrew: Still Opening Doors
I have the best of intentions. I've backed them up with a nifty notebook: divided into sections for the days of the week; pages of personalized prayer requests; an alphabetized list of missionaries (Can I make it through the list from memory at 3 a.m. on a wakeful night?); even a few answers to prayer,… Continue reading All Nations
My heart is becoming more elastic these days – not tougher, I hope, but more willing to be stretched, more willing to love on less-than-ideal terms, to accept conditions that I would not prefer, and to take the risk of loving anyway. As happens so often, the Apostle Paul is leading the way, and I… Continue reading For a Short Time
Living Our Days 