Gaining a heart of wisdom
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:1) John begins his story about the life of Jesus on this planet by revealing to his readers what it had taken him nearly three long years to absorb:Jesus, the man who… Continue reading Begin with Awe and Genuine Worship will Follow
When I'm teaching a group of women I'm meeting for the first time, I try to begin with some small part of my story. I talk about my four sons or my adorable grandchildren. I might mention my garden in the summer or complain about the early winter darkness here on this country hill in… Continue reading A Fresh View that Deepens an Already Beloved Tale
Most of the dreams that carried me forward and burned brightly in young adulthood have lost their luster years ago. My twenty-something self would be mortified at the woman I’ve become.I can imagine her indignant voice, hand on hip, eyes wide: “What? No gym membership?” “What is this shipwreck you’ve made of our resume?” But… Continue reading Older Women: Uproot Bitterness and Plant Hope Instead
With the right book and enough time, reading becomes a form of transportation, a deep river that carries me along in the current of words, characters, and ideas. Simply looking at the cover or hearing the title of certain favorite books evokes a place and a time and even remembered dialogue as if I had… Continue reading Have We Lost the Essential Practice of Deep Reading?
The road out of Jericho was always well-traveled, but Bartimaeus could sense something different in the air. Just as the angle of the hot sun on the back of his neck told him the time of day, the buzz of the crowd, the whispered excitement, and the press of bodies told him the truth that… Continue reading Driven by Fear to the God Who Casts Out Fear
"Remember, now, we're looking for interesting shapes in nature," I advised my grandson as he picked a tiger lily to add to his collection. We ranged far and wide in search of ferns, winged seeds, leaves both pinnate and palmate, and anything else that caught his eye. His new bright red T-shirt was stretched out… Continue reading Look to Creation for a Story of Hope and Flourishing
In a fit of sleep-deprived stubbornness, one day I just stopped reading the Bible. I certainly still believed in God, because I told him quite directly that I had no intention of reading his recycled words. It seemed to me that the prophets and apostles had no idea what it was like to bear and… Continue reading How to Stay Motivated and Excited About Reading the Bible
One summer, I was responsible for a team of high-school-age summer missionaries. They were helping with children's outreach opportunities through area churches, so I would drop them off at the church on Sunday evening and pick them up after their last kids' club on Friday. After a few weeks of regular contact, I began to… Continue reading 8 Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God’s Word
I can hardly stand to watch my oldest granddaughter eating an ice cream cone. It's almost as if she forgets that it's in her hand, so before you know it, she's holding it horizontally, even gesturing with it, while pink ice cream drips on her shoes. Reminders are useless. "Honey, eat your ice cream" may… Continue reading Build a Strong Foundation by Hearing and Doing
The insistent tone of my cell phone’s timer carried through floorboards to our basement schoolroom--another call to prayer unanswered. I sighed, turned the page, and continued with my sixth-grader in a lesson on fractions. I had been reading about the historical practice of praying the hours, setting aside intentional moments throughout the day at specific… Continue reading Holiness in the Here and Now
Living Our Days 