I sat in my rickety lawn chair, waiting for folks to walk up our driveway and buy our old treasures and trinkets as part of our neighborhood garage sale. Things were slow. Granted, I didn’t have much to put out, but still, I’d hoped to make enough to put a dent in our Christmas budget. Sighing, I watched another car drive past. Our cat purred, rubbing around my legs as I sat and waited. At least she was getting plenty of attention so early on Read More
Walking with God
Monday Prayers for Afghanistan…and our own apathy
Lord, We come to Your feet, praising You for being the God You are–holy, all-powerful, King, and friend. Father, You hear the cries of Your children in Afghanistan and all over the world. You hold them in their darkest moments, when terror squeezes the breath from their chests. Be their peace. Be their hope. Give them courage. I ask, in the name of Jesus, to blind the enemy as You did in the days of Elisha. Confuse their plans and rescue Your children from danger. Read More
Relentless: How to Never Give Up
“Oh, come on!” I chuckled to myself as I watched my son fight the continual onslaught of surf at South Padre Island. For the past week we had lived in the sand, walking down to the beach each morning before plunging into the cold salt water. Laughing. Playing. But this morning, my little man was struggling. The tide was a bit harsher, the waves more relentless as he attempted to slide his belly onto the boogie board and swim into deeper water. Unfortunately, just as Read More
Wielding Nerf Swords: How to be a Grown-Up in a No-Accountability Culture
“I think I thrive under a lack of accountability.” ~Michael Scott, The Office Welcome to Accountability 101. Truth is a very valuable commodity. I think it’s safe to say it’s the most valuable commodity. That and love. And time. And hummus. Okay, maybe not hummus but that’s why I need accountability. I need people to tell me when I’m off track. I need encouragers who speak the truth so I won’t end up in a proverbial bubble of thoughts and philosophies. “Yes” men, or women Read More
What’s the Deal with the Christianese?
Something that cracks me up about believer lingo is the way some of us inadvertently slip into Christianese—you know, that unique way of speaking that identifies us as “Christian” to the outside world. The problem with Christianese is that it’s only understood by people within the same subculture. Much like consulting the Urban Dictionary to understand what on earth your teenager is talking about, Christianese can be downright confusing to new believers or those outside the group. When a friend of mine moved down south Read More
Am I a Wonder Junkie?
What is it about a car wreck that keeps us from looking away? No matter how busy our morning or crammed our schedules, when we see those flashing blue lights and watch the EMTs stooping to help pull a driver from their mangled car, we slam our brakes to get a better look. Is the person okay? Is the car totaled? Who else was involved? The more sensational the event, the worse the rubbernecking. Psychologists say the common practice of rubbernecking is human instinct–a wild Read More
My Word for 2021
Most of us are ready to kiss 2020 goodbye. It’s been a marker of disease and death, upheaval and shock. Yet simply turning over the pages of a calendar doesn’t mean life magically rids itself of pain. No one but God knows what the next year holds which is why I’ve been so thoughtful about what word I’ll choose to meditate on during this upcoming year. After much prayer, I feel God leading me toward the word HOPE. Years ago, Steve Westbrook ingrained in my Read More
Is It Better “To Do” or “To Be”: How a Goal-Driven Person Seeks God
Not long ago, I finished up a beautiful study on the book of Hosea by Jennifer Rothschild. She challenged her readers to do something I love: to make a to-be list instead of a to-do list. I’m prolific at creating master to-do lists. They give me a sense of control, a sense of accomplishment and keep my cluttered mind from letting crucial jobs slip through the cracks of my faulty memory. (Correction: these things give me illusion of control, accomplishment and clearer brain function.) Despite Read More
Will You Take the 30 Day What-You-Say Challenge?
Words are powerful. They can build up a life through language doused in love, or they can cut a life down like a scythe slicing through brittle grass. When I recently asked my oldest daughter what she loved most about her best friend at school, she replied, “I’ve never heard her say a bad word about anyone. She speaks the truth, sometimes very directly, but always with kindness of love. She’s not a backstabber. It’s hard not to love being around someone like that.” Her Read More
When Love Rescues
The pastor walked back down the dirt trail etched in the side of the Arkansas mountains, his heart heavy. The new visitor at church had begged and pleaded. “Please, sir. Please visit my family. They live up in the mountains just outside of town. I’ve been telling them about Jesus, about how he changed me but I don’t think they’re listening.” The young man’s ears reddened. “My family is a mite…peculiar. Superstitious. They think I’m confused but I believe they might listen to you.” He Read More