A poem about how Jesus isn’t surprised by your failure in the face of racism–and still calls you to love.
Category: Wonder
For my big-little girl on her 4th birthday
You don’t fit on my lap anymore.I can barely carry you.Not that you’re ever still enough for either. You are a giant.Taller than your older friends,mountainous in your anger,a cathedral of words and laughter. You walk on tiptoe everywhere,Your dance more irritated bumblebee than prima ballerina. You have a favorite version of the Bible,But you …
Love is available even here
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 …
Don’t Martha it up
I can’t be the only one whose brain is too full. There’s just so much to think about right now. (You know—a list will just make us both anxious.) Weirdly, I feel like I have less bandwidth, time, and energy than I did before COVID despite being home more and having fewer responsibilities. My mind is …
Jesus isn’t bothered by your mess
There’s this wild story in the Bible [Mark 2] where a paralyzed man is lowered through a roof in a jam-packed house. This guy’s buddies carry him up the back stairs, CUT A HOLE IN THE ROOF, and drop him onto Jesus who forgives his sins and heals his body. There are tons of great …
Holy jeans
These are my actual jeans. Notice anything odd about them? (Hint: It’s the knees.) I acquired these pants at different times, and I’ve worn them in steady rotation over the last four years, but when I bought them, none of them had holes or weird dye jobs (a fashion plate, I’m not). I earned these …
Your forever valentine
Don’t you just love love? Whether it’s romance or friendship, there’s something about truly being known by and knowing another person that really does it for us. What’s interesting (read: amazing, beautiful, shocking-in-a-good-way) is that if we raise our eyes just a bit above our everyday experience, we can see the source of love itself. …
Never not in His presence
Where do you encounter the presence of God? At church? In worship? In prayer? What about while you’re cooking? Or exercising? In line at the store? God is not separate from your daily life. He’s not hiding or absent or locked in a building you visit once a week. He’s WITH YOU. All the time. …
King David falls out
Attitude is everything. Especially when we don’t get what we’re praying for. I recently re-read the story of David and Bathsheba, a familiar tale of lust, murder, and trying to make things okay that are NOT OKAY. What stands out is how David grieves when God takes away the child conceived by his sin. This …
Only one God split the sea
As Moses led Israel out of Egypt, he was praying constantly, fully dependent on God to walk an entire nation out of slavery fast enough to avoid being slaughtered by the furious army chasing them. Moses sure didn’t have the power to do it, what with that pesky sea in the way. The Egyptians must …