Ligaments of Love: Encouragement in the Body of Christ
She’s a feisty ball of zeal perched on top of two spindly legs.
And it’s her first year of running for a school cross-country team. My little sixth grader was so eager to join her older sister in this sport this year. Together they’ve gone to practice for a couple of weeks, but for the most part have gone their separate ways upon arrival to run with their friends.
I arrived early to collect them the other day and got to watch the final activity assigned by the coaches: a tempo run for just under a mile. In the distance, I spotted my little gal’s hot pink shorts, streaking around the course in third position. For more than half a mile, she held her own with the front-runners. Read More
You, Me and Mona
My fair skin has been ravaged by sun damage: I’m wrinkled beyond my years and scarred from removing multiple Basal Cell cancer lesions. My brown mop has enough gray hairs in it that nobody can mistake them for ‘highlights’ anymore. My teeth are anything but brilliant white. I’m over 40 and overweight.
And sometimes all of that undermines my confidence, when surrounded by the features of my slender, tanned or blond female peers. Our society values those physical attributes more than the ones God gave me genetically. In today’s American culture, the ones I posses are not regarded as beautiful. Read More
Guest Post: Obscured Vision
I think you’ll enjoy Jeannette Duwe’s perspective in today’s guest post. I’m enjoying this respite from everyday life and look forward rejoining you next week. Pop over to Jeannette’s blog, The Ironing Board, to check out more of her great writing. Be inspired!
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
— Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
“Oh, kids! Look at the prairie dogs,” my mother cheerfully exclaimed as she pointed out the car window.
“Where? Where?!” I cried, devastated that I was the only one in the car unable to see them. My two older brothers never seemed to share my difficulty seeing things, in fact my sweet German Grandmother, “Oma,” nick-named one of them “eagle eye.” Read More
Behind the Sign
His eyes were a piercing blue. I might never have known.
On Sunday, our church supplied everyone with a ‘care package’ of sorts for us to give to a homeless person or someone with similar need. The cinch sacks contained a blanket for a cold night, a fresh pair of socks, some granola bars, a beanie, a small gift card and a water bottle. Stowing it in the car makes it ready for giving when the need presents itself. One morning this week, as we left to run errands, I nearly took it out of the car because it was something of a nuisance underfoot. Read More
Plates of Plenty
It was one of the most significant meals our family has ever shared.
Part of my duty as a Christian parent in a first world country is to educate my children that their abundance is a gift from God not meant exclusively for them but to be shared.
There are multitudes of ways to convey this message to them: mission trips, books, and child sponsorship, to name but a few. As I reflected, I found a growing desire to facilitate a memorable evening for our family as a teaching tool on the Gospel’s exhortation to social mercy. Read More
Unbiased Ears
“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
— John 10:3b, 4 ESV
It’s right there in the text, as plain as day.
But it’s easy to miss.
This passage of scripture is subtitled “I am the Good Shepherd” in our Bibles (though subtitles aren’t in John’s manuscript). As westerners, the subtitle conjures an image of a man cresting a grassy, green hill with his staff in hand, prodding the sheep along from behind the flock. Perhaps dogs are chasing the wooly creatures to keep them from falling into harm’s way as well.
And yet, that’s not at all what the verse says. Read More
Mundane or Miraculous?
Are we blinded to miracles by the consistency of them?
I’m enjoying a Priscilla Shirer study this summer, One in a Million. In it, we’ve been revisiting the Exodus and how God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea, along with other deliverances from death by dehydration and starvation in their desert wanderings. Shirer has encouraged us to see the value of the wilderness as playing an important role in cultivating our on-going dependence on God — not just through miracles but day-to-day life. She’s asked us to reflect and record the many ways God has delivered and sustained us in our wilderness experiences. Read More
Duty with Dependence
“Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.”
— John Hancock, 1st Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Independence Day, for many Americans, is synonymous with grilled meat, baked beans, potato salad, lawn chairs and fireworks. Perhaps a watermelon thrown in for good measure.
While celebrating in such a fashion is certainly enjoyable, Independence Day is meant to remind us of our hard-fought liberation from oppression. Read More
Does God still like me?
He was devastated. I was exasperated.
Sitting on the edge of my son’s bed, I looked into his eyes. He
knew I was upset. Yet another day with multiple food allergy infractions. His inability to control his impulses around food frustrates me for the obedience issues, but even more so because of the adverse impact on his growth due to nutrient malabsorption. We’ve seen God’s redemption and work in these issues, but it is an on-going battle that is likely to plague him for years to come. Read More
Travels of the Heart
This week my family has enjoyed the sweet blessing of a trip to our previous hometown. Travel along with me momentarily as I reflect on the life lessons that come from this scenery Sabbath? (If you’re looking for something a little more ‘meaty’ today, check out this archived post, Superlatives.)
- My kids frequently remarked that things loomed large in their memory yet were significantly smaller in present day. Read More
