Gaining a heart of wisdom
As a true fan of certainty, I am filled with longing whenever I read Old Testament stories in which God shows up in unmistakable clarity. He speaks from a bush on fire, gives audible instructions for travel, and issues a rebuke from between the squared off teeth of a donkey. Even when Samuel, young and… Continue reading How Do You Know if You Are Called to Be a Writer?
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
For long years, I have ridden the bucking bronco of calling, leaning into the tension of being a fairly ambitious woman in a life that leaves little room for goals beyond laundry management and remembering to thaw something for dinner. Anyone with a Facebook account or a presence on Instagram knows that there are people… Continue reading When God Asks for More but it Looks Like Less
Published in 1927, My Utmost for His Highest has sold more than 13 million copies and has never been out of print. Over the course of its 90+ year history, it has been translated into 40 different languages, and Oswald Chambers's unique and timeless wisdom is quoted far and wide. However, until recently, little thought has been… Continue reading Biddy Chambers: A Sacramental Life
When a pastoral search goes well, everyone wins. Last year when a soft-spoken lobsterman rose to his feet and challenged us at Spruce Head Community to seek a shepherd who would lead us and love us, we began praying and seeking to that end. The seeking and the finding has united us, and we are… Continue reading A Bundle of Letters on the Church’s Doorstep
Last week a huge windstorm felled both trees and power lines, leading to widespread power outages throughout the great state of Maine. By some miracle of grace, we came through the storm with our lights still burning, but my oldest son was without electricity for several days. Since he and his family came here to… Continue reading Blessing Management: Jayber Crow Discussion Group (Conclusion!)
There's always a certain amount of eye-rolling that goes on in a household overrun by teens and young adults. My husband and I are amazingly un-cool. His humor is entirely "Dad-jokes." My questions and observations are overwhelming evidence that I'm over-thinking everything. But here's one tiny bit of wisdom that has been passed down without… Continue reading It’s Not About You — And It Never Was!
As I write today, Houston is well into the long rebuilding that follows a hurricane and flooding, and Irma has raged through the Caribbean islands and through Florida, leaving a wake of destruction and death. In an odd sort of coincidence, those of us who are reading Jayber Crow according to the schedule have been… Continue reading Like the Sound of Many Waters — Jayber Crow Discussion (3)
My faith unraveled at a Christian college. I know that’s not the way it’s supposed to happen, and I can remember wishing that a hostile, atheistic professor had bludgeoned me into my doubts with brilliantly irrefutable arguments. It would make for a much better story. Instead, the truth is I just got numb. The constant barrage… Continue reading 3 Stories Completely Ended: Jayber Crow Discussion Group (2)
Stuffing a ratty t-shirt into the washer's maw, I try not to think about the fact that it was only yesterday that I hung this very same t-shirt on the clothesline. The laundry is never done -- even though we are down to a family of four these days. How in the world did I… Continue reading “Laundry Is My Overflowing Inbox”: Working within the Home
Living Our Days 