Gaining a heart of wisdom
I've just turned the last page in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses's ministry has come to a close, his life has come to its end, and he's given a glimpse of the land God had promised to his people. But he will never set foot on it. One of the benefits of my plodding through… Continue reading Finding Rest and Being Satisfied in the Land of See and Trust
When you flip all the pages to the back of your Bible, when you take a deep breath and begin to excavate the words of John's Revelation, what exactly are you looking for? Are you hoping for an end times road map? A winning slam dunk in your next theological argument? How about blessing? Have… Continue reading 3 Resources to Help You Search for Blessing in the Book of Revelation
Part of the delight of spending time with my oldest grandson is that he takes nothing for granted.Nothing.“Bam, why bubble pop?”“Because you stood on it.”“Why?” Well, good question. Why indeed, and even now, our conversations still routinely run on in this vein of relentless curiosity. Now that he’s old enough to have moved from bubble… Continue reading The Practice of Curiosity and the Rewards of a Lifelong Quest for Knowledge
Prayer is hard work, perhaps because it's hard to quantify. I can spend fifteen minutes praying or fifteen minutes cleaning the bathroom. The results of one are far more obvious than the other--at least in the moment. But what about the long term "results?" And exactly what do we mean when we talk about "results"… Continue reading Do You Ever Have the Feeling that Prayer Doesn’t Really Work?
On my morning walk, sunrise casts its glow across dewy hayfields. Breathing deeply, pushing hard on uphill stretches, and swinging my arms purposefully to keep my heart rate up, I am beginning to understand this ritual as both spiritual and physical discipline. Since exercise has been medically proven to slow the advance of Parkinson's disease,… Continue reading The Importance of Rest for Your Body and Your Spirit
We sat in silent disbelief, neither of us knowing what to say. When my husband’s job was eliminated without warning, the news landed like a tidal wave: completely unexpected and comprehensively devastating. Then, as the wave receded, applications, interviews, and the thin hope that accompanies waiting seemed to set the agenda for our family’s unknown… Continue reading How to Persevere in Hope When the Outcome is Uncertain
For almost thirty years, this country hill in Maine has been home to our family. One by one, we've added to the numbers until, soon, we'll be 14 Morins in all, but it all started with two of us. The longer we live here, the more obvious it becomes that "home" is really more about… Continue reading Are You Looking for the Way to a Destination Called Peaceful Rest?
If I had to affix a title to the front of my beat-up journal, I'd call it Two Quarts of Manna. Its scrawled entries echo Moses's instructions to Aaron about preserving some of God's provision as a memorial for the future. My journals contain the evidence of God's faithfulness. Journal-keeping has become a means of… Continue reading Journal Keeping as a Tactic for Self Awareness and God Awareness
At 7, my oldest grandson is already a contemplative, a fellow who asks a lot of questions and registers an opinion on just about everything. Maybe that's a family trait (for better or for worse), but a recent reading of Psalm 131 has given me good reason to rethink the merits of over-thinking and the… Continue reading What If the Key to Rest Is Ordinary, Down to Earth Faith?
In February, I finished my slow read through the Psalms. One hundred fifty psalms should have taken a mere hundred and fifty days, but I'm sure the math wouldn't come out right if one were to check the dates in my journal. My purpose was to pray my way through the psalms, a goal that… Continue reading Embrace the Subversive Practice of Rest. Celebrate Lent in a World of Hurry and Hustle.
Living Our Days 