Sometimes it is of our own doing. Sometimes it comes because of the hard circumstances of life. That familiar, not so friendly state of feeling frustrated. Desperate. Lonely. Tired. Tired of where we are but not sure how to turn the corner and move past this place that seems, well, muddied. Like the familiar story…
Oh yes you did. You rolled your eyes. And covered your face. And eagerly walked away from the one who carried you for nine months– and has carried you ever since. The hugs you once demanded are becoming rare, now that you think you’re “too old” for Mom’s affection. But time is slipping away, and…
I don’t like the spotlight. I have always been a wallflower and would rather be in the background than center-stage. Being a pastor’s wife doesn’t always accommodate my insecurities, so learning to accept being uncomfortable has been a journey that started long ago… I can still remember squirming in my seat as a young girl…
If I could earn my way to heaven– if I could work hard to be the best version of me, it would never be enough. I could try to be a loving person who sacrifices and denies myself for the greater good, and while I might feel self-righteous, my holiness would be like filthy rags.…
It was just a bowl of soup. And a day with my grandson. Coming home at the end of the day, my drive time became a time of reflection and wonder at how blessed I really am. Not in the world’s sense, maybe, but in this girl’s heart I had just had the most beautiful…
Physical touch is a love language that I struggle with. I love to cuddle my grand-babies, but in the adulting world, I am not known to be a big “hugger”. You know the kind of person I’m talking about–that opens her arms and hugs every person with abandon? Yeah, I’m not her, but I have…
Despite the not-so-uncommon view that the hope of this world is found in politics or prosperity or possessions, one brush with eternity, and your perspective can change in a heartbeat. Hope has a name: His name is Jesus. When our youngest was in junior high, he started complaining about pain in the side of his…
In a follow-up to my last post, Whatever You Do, Parents… , I am sharing the first of three things that I want my children (and others) to see in me because of my relationship with God. The world that I grew up in was very different from today. Much of society valued church attendance…
Disclaimer: I am not a parenting expert. (Can anyone really claim that title?) My four children are now grown and I get to enjoy eleven grandbabies. I love my family–from the littlest to the oldest, and I am grateful for every single one of them, and to be clear, we are not a perfect family.…
My story is not a dramatic one, but it starts in the shadow of pain. I was born 10 months after the tragic death of a sister, only eight months old. Pain has a way of shaping you, and my sweet mother was never the same after losing a child. I know. She’s told me.…
The words jumped out at me from the page. “Do the next thing.” As simple as this phrase might seem, some days life can stop us in our tracks. Whether we are struggling physically–or emotionally hanging on by a thread, our minds can be overcome by a sense of futility. “I’ll never (be/do/accomplish that)… so…
In my journey through every book of the Bible, I come to Galatians and see clearly that it is a book about freedom. Not political freedom, but something much more life-changing: Spiritual freedom. Paul writes this letter to first century Christians who were struggling with the idea of ‘faith alone’. These believers were trusting in…
“When my husband died I started asking God for a hug. Not from Him, of course, but from a living, breathing person.” Because my sweet mother-in-law had been married to her husband for 50+ years, one of the things she missed the most besides his presence was the daily dose of physical touch, or affection.…
We are finishing up 31 Days of Proverbs today! I can’t help but feel some trepidation over this chapter. So much has been written on Proverbs 31 and the “virtuous woman” that I struggle to begin. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that when I read this chapter I can feel inadequate. Go…
Compared to the wisdom of others, I could come out on the short end of the stick or I might look as grand as an oak. Proverbs has taught us that being “wise in our own eyes” is a sure sign that you are not wise at all, so if we see wisdom in its…
