Gaining a heart of wisdom
"As Christian women, we desire to honor God by living countercultural lives that reflect the beauty of Christ and His gospel to our world . . ." These powerful words lifted from the True Woman Manifesto are a wake up call to women, an invitation to enter into a life based on truth, and to… Continue reading Divine Design
Rest is a radical practice. In our hyper-scheduled culture that worships productivity, it's easy to slip into a negative attitude toward those who promote a more rest-filled lifestyle, but The Radical Pursuit of Rest is not seeking to add one more thing -- resting! -- to the already full do-list. Author and professor John Koessler asserts that rest… Continue reading Rest: A Remedy, a Relief, and a Gift
I've heard it many times and from the most unexpected sources: "I try to read the Bible, but . . . it doesn't seem to say anything to me. I don't understand what I'm reading. It doesn't help me, so I end up quitting . . " Set this response beside David's from Psalm 119:… Continue reading Knowable, Necessary, and Enough
Peeling potatoes for dinner, I was listening to music -- a lovely arrangement around a poem by Robert Frost. Of course, I couldn't help but sing along until . . . "BONG!" The clock in the living room began chiming the hour. The sudden dissonance stopped my singing, but not my enjoyment, because I love that clock,… Continue reading The Temporary Dissonance
Ash Wednesday is following hard on the heels of Groundhog's Day this year, and while retailers are throwing heart and soul into Valentine's Day, I find that my heart is more prepared to celebrate Easter if I spend some time during the Lenten season reading about the two historical events that are central to Christianity: the cross and… Continue reading One Weekend in Jerusalem
I cannot abide bouillon in a mug, but I'm always a little sorry about that when I read the opening pages of Madeleine L'Engle's The Irrational Season. She sips from her warm cup, gazes out her two a.m. window at the Hudson River, and begins an Advent reflection that meanders through the liturgical year and the… Continue reading Battlefields and Slums and Insane Asylums
In the every day of my walking-around life, heart and mind collaborate. Putting a note in my patient husband's lunch communicates love, but, in my case, it is likely to be motivated by knowledge: he's having a rough week; he did something terrific that I want to thank him for; the day ahead holds special… Continue reading The Apostles’ Creed for the 21st Century
What if every little person could grow up knowing that she is lovely because God loves her? What if everything in the sky and under the sky were suddenly revealed as mirrors, reflecting God's huge "I LOVE YOU." What if the Bible could be understood NOT as a book of rules or as a dusty collection… Continue reading Every Story Whispers His Name
My sixteen-year old and I are laboring over chemistry together these days, and his textbook has decreed that we are not to move on to Chapter 5 until he is confident in balancing equations. We're not going anywhere right away, so . . . We have spent this week with a printed worksheet of fifty chemical equations,… Continue reading Hard-wired for Awe
When we think of God, and angels, and The Angel, we suppose ineffable light. So there is surprise in the air when we see him bring to Mary, in her lit room, a gift of darkness. From "The Overshadow" Accompanied by Angels According to Luke 1:35, the mystery of the incarnation happened in shade, and… Continue reading Made Flesh
Living Our Days 