My family and I waited for our food during a rare lunch date in the middle of the week. Feelings of failure overcame me. Like being in battle, one blow after another hit me this past week. Parenting blows. Each one magnified, perhaps, by the reality that I'm in a state of upheaval as my […]
SMH Are you familiar with this acronym for "Shaking My Head"? "SMH" is an Internet abbreviation trend used for shaking your head to express disappointment. I don't often shake my head at people I'm disappointed in. Well...wait...maybe I do that to my kids when they disobey me! I've probably used the acronym for it a […]
I walked into my husband's office to look through every single shelf seeking a book title that might touch my heart. My husband has two offices, each with walls covered with books. To be married to a man who loves books as much as I do is a dream come true. His books are organized […]
A friend approached me in tears recently wondering how to go forward after a major loss in ministry due to someone else's heartbreaking moral failing. This loss tempted my friend to despair and even consider leaving her ministry. Because I've experienced my own losses in ministry, my heart remembered the deep-rooted truths that got me […]
It's been a lazy summer. Delightful, easy, carefree and...I don't want it to end! With a light schedule and easy days, there has been less temptation toward frustration in the home. I guess that is why I wasn't prepared for it. I became frustrated and angered very quickly at a situation with […]
dis·rupt disˈrəpt/ verb interrupt (an event, activity, or process) by causing a disturbance or problem. drastically alter or destroy the structure of (something). To say Jesus disrupts might be a bit of an understatement. But I'll stick with that because that is was the wordage my husband used this past Sunday […]
Not too far from my house there is a patch of woods that runs along a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. It's in a place that is quite special to me. To get there you have to enter a cemetery. I grew up not far from this cemetery, so going there is like revisiting my […]
I want beauty in my life. I want it to be in the form of refreshment for myself and others. I want to see Jesus more in my life. I want the Jesus ripple effect. I see it play out in chapter seven of the second book of Corinthians. This beauty and refreshment released in the […]
That sweet moment when you're brought back to gospel sanity. The truth, once again, falls fresh on your heart and mind and you feel like you've heard it anew. Like it is the most amazing fresh insight from God. That it is for sure. You know it must be from God because who longs for […]
My kids giggle as I read from Proverbs 30. "If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth. For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife." (verses 32-33) I love it when my kids hear something that […]
Advent Joy isn’t shallow or sentimental—it is rooted in the appearing of Christ. When Scripture speaks of Christ being manifested, it means that God has made Himself clearly seen, known, and encountered in order to save. “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation…” — Titus 2:11, ESV The Child in the manger is the […]
Where do you long for Christ’s Peace to enter your story this week? Or have you given up hope for that? Perhaps it would be good for you and me to remember Jesus' words about the kind of peace He gives. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the […]