Gaining a heart of wisdom
Almost twenty-two years ago, I packed up my favorite coffee mug, my personal files, and a few samples of my work, and walked away from my career in human resources. Four babies in eight years, homeschooling, ministry, and a huge vegetable garden each year have hardly left time for me to look in the rear… Continue reading Purposeful, Missional Work
Big plans are great, and, without a doubt, The Great Commission is an invitation to develop a no-holds-barred, pull-out-the-stops strategy to change the world. History provides rich examples of those who did just that: Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliot, Mary Slessor and many more whose names we will never hear. In Overrated, Eugene Cho asks himself… Continue reading Justice 101
I may possibly have rolled my eyes a teensy bit as I glanced at the 3x5 card from my pocket: "Sing praise to the Lord for He has done gloriously. Let this be made known in all the earth," Isaiah 12:5. It's not that I disbelieve the first clause; no, it's the scope of the… Continue reading Invitation to Adventure
I am a utilitarian knitter with mittens, dish cloths, and the occasional scarf as my only output, but even so, one of the things that is always in my sturdy, grab-and-go backpack is a pair of knitting needles holding my current knitting project. It may go for months untouched, but I value any time that… Continue reading For the Creative Soul
I really didn't think I needed this book. It was written for procrastinators, for people who need help in Taming the To-Do-List. If anything, I'm an "ante-crastinator," too faint-hearted to wait until the last minute, who goes into panic mode just thinking about the potential of going into panic mode. But then I read Glynnis… Continue reading Don’t Put It Off
The prosperity gospel is deep in my bones -- not that I technically hold with any kind of "blab it and grab it" theology or the idea that God owes me a BMW. I do know better than that, but truly, I just want to be able to tell you that God has always answered… Continue reading Embrace the Detour
Two weeks into the Beatitudes with my Sunday School class, and my ear is finally becoming accustomed to the cadence of another Kingdom, one in which those who are meek and mournful are pronounced fortunate -- even happy. All of this is a fitting backdrop for reading Joshua Choonmin Kang's Spirituality of Gratitude. His collection… Continue reading The Language of Thanksgiving
For the past twenty-one years, my designated occupation on our tax forms and all official (and unofficial) documents has been "domestic diva." Given the flashy title, my house should look a lot better than it does, but my fierce and steadfast focus within that job title has been to raise four young men to love… Continue reading Love Them Into Being
Knowing God by J.I. Packer was the first book of theology that I bought and read simply because I wanted to. It had not been assigned by any professor, and it was not related to anything that I was teaching at the time. I wanted to read it because it sounded like an invitation to… Continue reading J.I. Packer: Strategies for Living
Ascend the stairs to the upper room. Crack open the door, and join Jesus and His disciples as they celebrate Passover together for the last time. Discover, with Bill Donahue, that da Vinci's masterpiece is only one way of looking at The Last Supper. The Irresistible Community is a continuation of the life together which convened around that… Continue reading We Long to Belong
Living Our Days 