I’m disillusioned. I’ve lived my entire life in church, nestled safely inside the Bible Belt and surrounded by believers just like me—flawed people who desperately love Jesus and are trying to do their best to figure this whole Christian-Living-thing out. None of us are perfect. Churches can be pretty messed up places because, well, they are filled with broken, sinful people. Just like in Walmart. Just like in McDonalds. Just like in our homes. During the past year, I’ve watched a loved one battle the Read More
healing
Painting Rust
Our front door is a mess. It’s a white door with glass insets, trimmed with frosted scroll work around the edges. It would be quite lovely…were it not for the bubbled rust marring the bottom corner. When the first signs of moisture damage popped up, I wasn’t too worried. After all, it was only a little rust. We live in the south. Humidity is our bread and butter. However, after a few weeks I noticed the spots of orange spreading and taking away from the Read More
The Broken Piano
“Great musicians should have only the finest instruments in their homes.” The caustic comment from the piano tuner who had curled up his nose at my old spinet piano has bothered me for fourteen years, though I’ve had a hard time figuring out why. I thought maybe it was the man’s attitude when he entered my home. I had been desperately searching for a tuner willing to take on my pawn shop find but from the moment this guy laid eyes on it, his annoyed Read More
The Seeing Blind
In this present darkness, most of us feel oppressed at every turn. We sense spiritual forces battling it out. Good versus evil. Angels versus demons. Light against shadows. We’ve been taught to be good soldiers for Christ. Take up our cross and fight. Fight for truth. Fight for our children. Fight, well, for everything. Speaking the truth is always the right thing to do. We must speak what God has declared to be true, omitting nothing. But one thing most of us forget is this: Read More
Rods and Staffs
God’s presence. How I long for it. There are days when I feel nearly desperate for it. For Him. In some ways, it’s an odd longing. Didn’t Jesus already promise He’s with me until the end of the age? (Matt. 28:20) Absolutely. He said His Spirit is living inside me as a deposit of the promises yet to come. (2 Cor. 1:22) Yet, there are days when I don’t always feel Him with me. I’m not alone. When I googled “God’s presence” I racked up a Read More
Drowning out Silence
Noise can be a drug. It’s a numbing anesthesia, insulating us from pain and reality, a distraction that keeps us from looking too deeply at what haunts us most. We do the same with food, with shopping and debit cards, with possessions and degrees, with sex and alcohol, power, possessions, money, relationships, children…yet the more I consider the bombastic nature of our society, the more I believe noise has become the preferred drug of choice. By noise I don’t mean only auditory transmission, but sensory Read More
The Little White Pill
Some days I loathe it. Other days I nearly weep with gratitude for it. Strange dichotomy. Every time I look at that little white pill in my palm, I am overcome with an odd mix of emotions. When I was diagnosed with depression in 2002, I was desperate for relief from the dark shroud that had blanketed my mind and heart. A shroud I had brought on myself as I lived year after year stuck in the vicious cycle of people-pleasing and perfectionism. I had exhausted Read More
Oxygen Masks
Have you been burdened to do something big for God? Maybe you have a desire for ministry that is burning inside you. In this day and age, the opportunities are endless. Missions, human trafficking, homeless shelters, women’s or men’s ministries, Celebrate Recovery, pregnancy centers, prisons…the possibilities are exciting and dizzying. Thoreau said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” We all long to matter. We all want to make an impact and somehow know that our lives will leave an eternal mark for future Read More
Concrete Heart
Pinnacle Mountain State Park in Little Rock, Arkansas was a happening place to be yesterday. Everywhere I looked there were children, dogs, mothers and fathers, laughing friends, college students and the retired. It was a beautiful day to be outside. There was also a lot of bickering, most of it coming from unwilling friends and family members being guilted into hiking to the peak of the mountain, a task that can seem a bit daunting when one looks up to see the top third of Read More
Pink Socks and Dust Bunnies
The florescent lights in my laundry room died several weeks ago. After unsuccessfully trying to fix the problem, my husband declared that it would take the work of our friend, a skilled electrician, to repair it. Days turned into weeks as my hubby forgot to call to set up the appointment. So here I am, enjoying the wonder of doing weeks of laundry in the dark. But you know something? It wasn’t too bad. I got used to it. Even comfortable, believe it or not…although Read More