Gaining a heart of wisdom
Our garden on the hill is flourishing this year! Beefy tomato plants have thickened their stems, and, Lord willing, tomatoes will hang there like bright traffic lights by summer's end. Cucumber and squash vines greedily gobble up space, while pea plants advance vertically, their wispy tendrils grasping the garden fence to help with the climb.… Continue reading 3 Practical Pointers for Tending the Garden of Your Soul
When my sons were small, it was not unusual for one of them to place tiny hands on either side of my face and turn it toward them when they were talking to me. Distracted and doggedly multitasking, I'm afraid that I was not always a very satisfying audience, and they wanted undivided attention for… Continue reading If You Turn Your Eyes, Your Heart Will Follow
Standing in my warm kitchen, I was thankful for a sunny day. The sun streamed through our windows, creating rectangular patches of light on the floor. The truth about that light landed in my mind like a benediction: Those patches of light that warmed and cheered me had traveled 93 million miles to reach my… Continue reading The One View that Changes Everything You See and Do
Spiritual disciplines are a means of enhancing the believer’s enjoyment of Jesus. They create space in a busy life for God to speak. The grace-empowered practices of prayer, gathering for worship, fasting, and meditation (to name a few) are evidence of our relationship with Christ. They become an invitation to do away with our weighty… Continue reading Resist False Stories and Reclaim Space for Truth
Since the blossoms will become green beans, since the tomatoes will soon be crowding each other for a peek of the red-ripening sun, since going to the garden feeds my soul as well as my family, I look forward every year to the season of hunkering down between the bean plants. It seems to become… Continue reading Diligence and Focus: Lessons from My Garden
As the mum to four sons, I've tackled a lot of tough stains in my mothering career, but no one had ever embedded Slime1 in my living room carpet—until this year. Full disclosure, our rug has a floral pattern, and this (combined with my slipshod housekeeping practices) allowed the Slime to pass as a "leaf"… Continue reading On Mother’s Day, Rinse and Repeat with Truth
Today, you and I are writing the story we'll be remembered for long after our life is over. As a parent to four adults, my mothering story has been written, and the lessons learned are being folded into the story of my grandmothering days. What story do I want to be able to tell?What stories… Continue reading What Story Do You Want to Leave Behind?
Hope is one of those words that might show up on a couch pillow or a coffee mug. We've domesticated the word. The church has tamed it until it's become a floating, sentimental abstraction. The truth is that hope is our lifeline. Paul commends the believers in Thessalonica for their "steadfastness of hope in our… Continue reading Hope: The Sure And Steady Anchor Of My Soul
When you’re five years old, baking cookies with your Sunday school teacher at her house on a Saturday morning is just about the best thing in the world. The moment I arrived to pick up my son, I could tell by his beaming face that he had enjoyed every minute of the baking, the snacking,… Continue reading Little People with Big Feelings: 5 Strategies For Emotionally Healthy Kids
Do you ever stop and think about the why behind all that you do? Especially if you are involved in ministry, what motivates you to keep on working? Is it duty?Pressure from others?Habit?A desire to look good, to be thought well of? Or do you serve God from a heart of love?What motivates your obedience… Continue reading What’s the Temperature of Your Love Relationship with the Lord?
Living Our Days 