Gaining a heart of wisdom
You don't need me to tell you that these are anxious days we're living in. Even if you limit your news intake as I do, the headlines are beyond belief, and it's easy to let our hearts slide into unhealthy rhythms. I've said it before here, and I'll say it again: We fall back onto… Continue reading Calm Your Anxious Heart with Rich Devotional Reading
Suddenly, I have a grandson who is almost as tall as I am. It happened this winter. After a couple of weeks of quick hellos and brief connections, I finally got a whole day with him and his siblings, and there he was, standing there with his brown eyes looking straight into mine. His growth… Continue reading Sometimes the Greatest Transformation Comes When You’re Not Looking
One of my favorite church life memories was summer Vacation Bible School. The program was all-hands-on-deck as we decorated the sanctuary and the fellowship hall, welcomed the kids, provided snacks, played crazy games, sang enthusiastic songs that fit the theme, and sent them home with gospel truth on replay in their little brains. Everyone, from… Continue reading What Does It Mean to Be God’s Forever Family?
I read the quotation, scrawled in purple ink in the margin of my Bible, and I silently scolded myself for not recording the source.1 Then I read it again: "Good works are to grace what a pail is to water—a container to get it from the well to the supper table." Sometimes we wonder why… Continue reading The Miracle Drug that Will Make You Happier and Healthier
Ash Wednesday always catches me by surprise, usually landing somewhere in the midst of bleak February (occasionally on Valentine's Day!) and with absolutely no fanfare. I've written before about reclaiming Lent for Christ and reviving a biblical understanding of lament, so it's no secret that I believe the observance of Lent as preparation for Easter… Continue reading Surprised by Costly Joy in the Season of Lent
Family ties are God’s great gift for teaching us how to get along. If I had never had children, I would imagine all sorts of good things about myself that are not true—that I am patient and unselfish, tolerant and quick to forgive. Living in close proximity with four sons, a mortal husband, and a… Continue reading The Great Gift of Living with Your Fallen Family
The longer I live, the more dubious sounds the popular wisdom of couch pillows and coffee mugs advising me to “Listen to your heart.” When push comes to shove (as it invariably does), I’m learning the advice my heart dishes out is likely to lead me astray. Let me instead speak to my heart as the psalmist… Continue reading What’s the Worst Advice You’ve Ever Been Given?
Now that humanity has access to the blessings of Zoom, FaceTime, email, and ubiquitous cell phones, it would seem that loneliness should have been eradicated from the globe—or at least all parts of it that have reliable Internet connections. However, it seems that no one is exempt from the sadness of feeling alone. Loneliness is… Continue reading What If You Could Know That You Are Never Alone?
Food preparation and clean-up run like a perpetual conveyor belt through my kitchen and through my life, so for me, the bigger challenge of hospitality is always logistics. I feel overwhelmed as I gather chairs from the far corners of the house. I forget to dust the top of the piano or spend too much time perseverating… Continue reading Hospitality: The Power of Authentic Connection
I had never led a question-and-answer session during any of my past women's events, but I was looking forward to the experience. I wanted to hear the questions that had bubbled to the surface after a weekend of immersing ourselves in the Bible's teaching on hope. I wasn't prepared for the challenging contexts the women… Continue reading What Happens When You Fight For Genuine Joy In Impossible Circumstances?
Living Our Days 