Gaining a heart of wisdom
Standing on one foot, I counted seconds and looked out the kitchen window. A downy woodpecker paused in drilling for his breakfast, almost as if he sensed my gaze, and the leaves around him glistened with the morning's heavy dew. My mind-numbing morning exercise routine has made me an avid observer of the world outside… Continue reading Your Extraordinary Life is the Life You Have Been Given
I'm not much of a traveler, so when I say that I'm just back from "a quick trip to Florida," please know that this meant I had to can the green beans, pick and pickle the cukes, and snatch the snap peas off their vines before I could even begin packing. Through every single delightful… Continue reading Tell Me Everything About Your Good Life in Maine
The last rays of sunshine slant their filtered light through the trees, while dragonflies and toddlers chase each other on a summer evening. A backyard circle of lawn chairs holds the body of Christ, gathered around Truth that transcends seasons. Before we break out the watermelon and set the fire pit ablaze, our pastor rises… Continue reading The Earth Overflows with the Gift of God’s Goodness
“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
Living Our Days 