Gaining a heart of wisdom
Around our house there's a bit of common wisdom: If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it won't move and it should, use WD-40. Raising four boys over the past twenty years, there have always been plenty of applications for both remedies. Life Unstuck is another remedy for the stuck places in life as Pat Layton… Continue reading Spiritual WD-40
Loved Back to Life by Sheila Walsh is not a story about the good life, of God miraculously keeping His children from all difficulty. Like David's psalms, it serves as a record of the dragon's mouth, the flood's torrent, and the God who does not abandon. Carried by faith through a difficult childhood, Sheila Walsh began her… Continue reading Journey of the Soul
Fear is a powerful motivator. Even the reluctant student might memorize lists of data for fear of failing a class. Motorists maintain a more conservative driving speed in areas where police regularly patrol. Unfortunately, there is also the fear that paralyzes, that leads to irrational decisions and self-protective behaviors. Fear of God, however, is the supremely… Continue reading Just One Thing: Fear
We've heard the stories so many times that their plots no longer phase us. Five husbands? Sure. Jewish women publicly washing the Messiah's feet in costly oil? Why not? A show-down in the temple between Grace and Law? Yeah, it's fun when Jesus outsmarts the Pharisees. A desperately ill woman healed in a crowd with just a… Continue reading Five Women. Five Stories.
"Why would God want us to speak to Him?" William Philip's question stopped me in my tracks because most authors of books on prayer argue from the opposite perspective: "Why should you want to speak to God?" Forever curious about the nature of God and constantly frustrated with my inconsistent prayer life, I found biblically-based and deeply thoughtful reflections… Continue reading Thinking God’s Thoughts After Him
What if you really believed what the Bible says about God -- that He loves you like a perfect Father, like a perfect Husband, like the perfect Friend, like the perfect Leader? What if you let the truth sink into your soul that God's perfect love is not tied to your performance or to your success or to the… Continue reading Trading Guilt for Grace
Muttering under my breath, I cleaned up the mess that is called party food. Where to put it all? Refrigerator? Full! Cupboards? Full! My grouching escalated into a claustrophobic "ti-rage" about my cramped life until, in the quietness of loading the dishwasher, I realized that I had been complaining about one thing: abundance. Turn it… Continue reading Just One Thing: Powerless
Soon the Leprechaun traps will appear in our home, constructed from oatmeal containers, Legos, Lincoln logs, and an old cracker box painted green. They get a bit more sophisticated every year, but the bait is always the same: the golden Legos and anything else the boys can find that resembles gold. In the many years… Continue reading A Saint to Celebrate
When we named our four boys, we were careful to discover and to ponder the meaning of the names we were considering before making a final choice. Then, we looked at each newborn and asked ourselves if the name fit and if its meaning would be a blessing to him throughout his life. Names matter. In… Continue reading Names Matter
Rising In time to taste the last slice Of apricot haze before morning sunshine -- I thought -- To be the giver. Peanut butter syrup simmering on the stove and An industrious waffle iron manufacturing perfect chocolate grids: The gift of a warm breakfast before a cold day of snowy mountain fun. Lanky Redwood forest… Continue reading Saturday’s Gift
Living Our Days 