Even as I kid, I desperately felt like I’m running out of time, never able to do or be enough. But God can use even that curse to make something beautiful.
2020 Review: The Year of Shema
I approached my year-end reflection with a sense of failure and shame. But I wonder if I didn’t shema better than I thought.
Conformity vs harmony, darkness vs light
The concept of unity has always been challenging for me. It sounds too much like the Borg. I don’t want to be assimilated! But in a recent study of Ephesians, I realized that is not God’s intention for unity. What I fear is conformity—me ceasing to matter as an individual. What Paul describes is harmony—togetherness …
Buy what’s worth buying
‘Tis the season to be shopping! The holidays may look a little different this year, but the rush to buy the perfect gift for everyone on your list is the same as ever. And while it’s fun and easy to get swept up in the whirlwind of deals and doorbusters, we need to remember that …
A sacrifice of thanks
REAL TALK: I am not feeling terribly thankful today.I know, my privilege is showing. Bear with me.I’m an expat. I moved to Canada in 2006 and am wildly happy here, but I always make a holiday pilgrimage back to Missouri. It’s a tradition of nostalgia and belonging that recenters me in my family of origin. …
One step at a time
Coming down from #PsalmsAtSeven has been bumpier than expected. I’m a creature of structure, and going from 150 days of regular study and sharing to zero gave me a bit of whiplash. I realized that while I have Plans™ for that project in the future, I don’t have any for It Wonders Me beyond simply …
The greatest storyteller ever
If you read my daughter a story, she’s going to sit on you. It’s just a fact. In preschool circle time, she’d crawl into the teacher’s lap in defiance of all propriety. At home, she insists on cramming into the recliner alongside me, wedging into my armpit as I read, and I frequently find her …
For, not against
Vote! But do it with His heart.
He calls me good
Will I disappoint you? Almost guaranteed.
Will I disappoint God? Never.
He’s got the whole world in His hands
Hat tip to Raffi for the reminder that the hands that hold the universe hold mine.
Stability in unstable times
“Stable” isn’t a word I’d use to describe 2020. I’m more likely to use the year as a swear word. You feel me. Nothing has been steady, dependable, or constant. But when the mail arrived with this tiny square of big scripture attached to my jewlery, I had to sit back for a selah moment. …
Happy (re)birthday to me
Ancient Jewish culture had this marvelous practice of “shmita” (שמיטה), which literally means to “release” or “let go.” Everything they did fell under this seven-year cycle. Going into it, agricultural land lay fallow, and at the end, debts were forgiven and slaves were freed. It was a year-long sabbatical for life, mirroring God’s rest on …