Gaining a heart of wisdom
Reading the Proverbs always feels like drinking from a fire hose. Wisdom comes flying at the reader in quick succession, and no matter how hard I try, I can't stop looking for an outline or some connection between the flood of consecutive aphorisms and metaphors. Of course, in the big picture, it's all connected to… Continue reading Watch Your Words: Speak with Wisdom and Live Well
The garden here on the hill has gasped its last, and sunflowers stand guard over the ruins. Rows of canning jars in my basement are solid evidence of summer's fruition. I expect to be enjoying our beautiful butternut squash for Thanksgiving dinner, but, looking for pumpkins among the tangled vines, the gardening season seems to… Continue reading An Autumn Celebration: The Subtle Beauty of Mature Fruitfulness
I'm not in the habit of schlepping Bible commentaries with me in the car, but we were playing tourist, staying at an Airbnb with no more exciting plans than to sit in lawnchairs facing Moosehead Lake. For me, vacation means reading, and Amy Peeler's commentary on Hebrews was at the top of my TBR pile.… Continue reading The Trustworthiness of God in the Book of Hebrews
The road out of Jericho was always well-traveled, but Bartimaeus could sense something different in the air. Just as the angle of the hot sun on the back of his neck told him the time of day, the buzz of the crowd, the whispered excitement, and the press of bodies told him the truth that… Continue reading Driven by Fear to the God Who Casts Out Fear
In a fit of sleep-deprived stubbornness, one day I just stopped reading the Bible. I certainly still believed in God, because I told him quite directly that I had no intention of reading his recycled words. It seemed to me that the prophets and apostles had no idea what it was like to bear and… Continue reading How to Stay Motivated and Excited About Reading the Bible
One summer, I was responsible for a team of high-school-age summer missionaries. They were helping with children's outreach opportunities through area churches, so I would drop them off at the church on Sunday evening and pick them up after their last kids' club on Friday. After a few weeks of regular contact, I began to… Continue reading 8 Encouragements to Grow Your Appetite for God’s Word
The insistent tone of my cell phone’s timer carried through floorboards to our basement schoolroom--another call to prayer unanswered. I sighed, turned the page, and continued with my sixth-grader in a lesson on fractions. I had been reading about the historical practice of praying the hours, setting aside intentional moments throughout the day at specific… Continue reading Holiness in the Here and Now
By the third or fourth time one of their thorns had punctured a lawn mower tire, we had started to call them "devil trees." An invasive species here in Maine, they began to take root in fields and fencerows, but their lovely blossoms and bright berries fail to redeem the damage they cause with their… Continue reading Why You Need to Have a Thorough Knowledge of Scripture
One of the greatest gifts of my life is my grown-up kids. We have fun together, and we also engage in conversations about important topics. I can feel my role in the family changing as everyone takes on increasingly responsible positions in his own world. While I’m sure they would each say their mother’s communication… Continue reading Encouraging Our Adult Children to Practice a Mature Faith
One of the most frequent questions I've been asked over the years (and one I struggled with myself as a young woman) is this: "I know I'm supposed to be having a devotional time with God every day. What does that look like?" The short answer is that there's no short answer to that question! My… Continue reading What Makes a Rich and Meaningful Devotional Life?
Living Our Days 