God’s splendor is a tale that is told.
I’m homesick, guys. With all the travel and immigration restrictions, my soul is longing for a place it can’t go, for the family I left behind, for a life we planned but may not have now. If you didn’t know, I’m an American expat (I think of myself as an alien–it’s cooler). I’ve lived in …
CHECK IN: What’s your self-talk like these days? I bet it’s way worse than usual. Mine sure is. Here’s just a sample of the names I’ve called myself in the past couple days. LoserFailureLazyBullySelfishHoarderUnfit parent I’ve also repeatedly “reassured” myself with thoughts like, “It’s okay that your body isn’t young anymore. You were never pretty …
Raise your hand if you’ve ever had your pupils dilated at the eye doctor. Isn’t it just the worst? Ugh. But check this out. So during the test, they drop an irritant on your eye to widen the pupil and let in the maximum amount of light, letting them see deep inside and check the …
This is me. This is how I pray. It’s how I prayed for two years, actually. Scurrying to the secret place and writing longhand every morning through intense soul-pain, repressed emotions, and life changes, tears of rage and gratitude dried in the margins. I stopped last December after a major revelation brought closure to issues …
What do you do when the words don’t come? When your heart is burdened and breaking and you close your eyes to pray but nothing comes out? What then? Anything. Scream.Cry.Babble.Laugh.Breathe. Sing.Dance.Build.Paint.Write. Prayer isn’t about the words you say just like worship isn’t about carrying a tune. Your entire life can be worship; your entire …
As the news escalates, a previously-rare thought is surfacing more: I don’t want to be the grownup. I don’t know what I’m doing! I don’t know if it’s time to wear masks to the store or for my husband to shower when he gets home. I don’t know how to explain that the mall, …
If you must weep today, make it for joy. For this day that marks the end of death and sin.
Yesterday on our walk, my daughter casually mentioned she’d been praying the night before. “That’s great, baby. What did you say?” “I prayed that I don’t want to go to Heaven yet.” Every parent just got the same icicle in their heart that I did. I asked why she thought she might go to Heaven …
There are known knowns and there are known unknowns. But there are also unknown unknowns―things we don’t know that we don’t know. When people greeted Jesus on Palm Sunday, joyfully crying “Hosanna!” they had all three kinds of facts. They knew they needed a savior.They knew they didn’t know how he’d do it.They couldn’t imagine …
There’s a peace that goes beyond peace. One more universal than doves and olive branches.One more profound than pre-dawn silence.One more complete than your boxed set of Friends. It’s the peace that existed in Eden,that gave Abraham his strength,that steadied Jesus in Gethsemane. Not the peace of this world, the Roman “pax.”A peace so other …
A friend of mine has a reminder tattooed on the outside of her wrist where it’s always visible. It says: “Is Love available even here?” I haven’t seen that tattoo in person for a long time, but I think of it often, especially now. In the wild, weird world of today, in the frustrations and …