Gaining a heart of wisdom
His drawing of a strawberry was lopsided, the printing was primitive, but the proud smile on my little guy’s face was as genuine as the ring of strawberry jam that circled his mouth. He had made the jam and then had labored over the personalized labels that made each jar an announcement of his creative… Continue reading Becoming Fluent in the Language of Labeling
"Okay if I take the kids over to the playground?" I asked my daughter-in-law. "They'd love it!" she answered with a smile, settling into her lawn chair with a good book, and so I grabbed two small hands, and, together, we walked the short distance to the swings and slides. Almost-Five knew the ropes, but… Continue reading Trusting God for a Secure Landing on Solid Ground
It all started as a strategy for outreach. We sat around a table and began to dream out loud, trusting that the fire of shared passion and the wisdom of group process would yield creative ideas for communicating the love of Christ to our community. I don’t mind confessing that I loved my dream. We… Continue reading When Your “Perfect” Plan Has Crashed and Burned
The garden is running late this year. Cold nights (making for cold soil) have resulted in pea plants that sprouted on schedule, grew to a fixed point, and then sputtered and stalled out, stunted. The prophet Isaiah had things to say about who is in charge of growth, both in the garden and in the… Continue reading The Quiet Miracle of Roots and Leaves
“Nine chapters, one hundred fifty two pages—how hard can this be?” I thought, as I loaded a well-known Christian classic onto my Kindle. Slogging through chapter two, reality began to set in. I had always been an avid reader but felt a need to be more intentional in my reading choices. The holes in my… Continue reading Reaching Out for the Adjacent Possible
When my thrifty mother-in-law made mincemeat, she would start with the venison roast from a deer who may have had the audacity to nibble on her tulip leaves. From there, she would improvise, adding whatever needed using up on that particular day: a batch of jam that didn’t “set up” just right or an over-abundance… Continue reading Evidence of Grace in the Cycling of Seasons
When C.S. Lewis wrote Surprised by Joy, he was clear that it was a “spiritual autobiography” designed to track his pilgrimage from atheist to deist and, finally, at long last to “the most dejected, reluctant convert in all of England.” In Christian circles, we’re fond of talking about finding God, until we realize that He has… Continue reading Surprise! God Has Your Best Interest at Heart
When life sends a hard turn in a direction I am not expecting, all the cracks and flaws in my theology show up. The wheels come careening off my carefully constructed orthodoxy, leaving me in the ditch with all the prosperity gospel folks or the "Where was God?" finger pointers. When God does not “cooperate”… Continue reading When You’re Sitting in the Winter Room
The snow is flying sideways like rice at a wedding, and I'm reading Lore Wilbert's blog post about marriage. She writes: "'We don’t treat our home like it’s the place where we can ‘be real,’ as though every other relationship in our lives deserves the fruit of the Spirit, but at home we can drop… Continue reading Timeless Words About Love for Your Valentine’s Day
My finger hovered over the screen as I read and scrolled, the words landing like lead in my stomach. A friend had simply reported the facts: “Try this!” she chirped, her heart pure, meaning only to encourage. “It worked for me! I’ve had 300 responses in just a few hours!” I darkened the screen with… Continue reading The Glory of Being Loved and Known by God
Living Our Days 