There She Goes
Today my older friend from church calls to read a passage of scripture just for me. She reads from 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 in her 85 year-old voice that’s recovering from an illness. But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of […]
On Its Way to Someone Else
I hear a powerful quote from Dr. Todd Ahrend that sends me spinning with urgency, possibility, joy, and purpose. He says, simply, “Salvation has come to us because it’s on its way to someone else.” Salvation has come to us because it’s on its way to someone else. I remember again all the precious souls […]
Announcing a New Bible Study and An Invitation for You
Great news! My new Bible study on Ephesians is coming June 6th! This study invites women to consider living in seven new ways and to connect with God and one another through sharing Savior Stories (instead of Shadow Narratives). I focus on the seven most important verbs in Ephesians from each chapter: included, chosen, seated, […]
Our Savior
Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed! What a Savior who loves us like this! He transfers us from the domain of darkness and into His wonderful kingdom of light. He conquered sin and death, and Easter rises in our hearts today and every day. This is all we need. This is who […]
New Ways of Seeing
My dad hands me a pair of high powered binoculars to examine the birds at the feeder across the yard. I zoom in with perfect clarity on the bright yellow and black America Goldfinches and linger awhile. I close my eyes and listen to the songs of a dozen kinds of birds in the woods […]
Crown of Thorns
I’m down by the creek, wandering and wondering. I’m hoping to find something–some nest, some egg, some fantastic creature. I peer deep into the rushing water, wanting. I feel like the naturalist E.O. Wilson when he writes from the water’s edge, “I also hoped for more. . . what exactly I could not say: something to enchant the […]
The Rain!
I’m so thankful for the rain last night. So thankful. Before, I complained all about the rain! In March, in rained so much, and I found myself ready for sun and warmth. April has delivered on both accounts. But with my allergies flaring and pollen floating about, stagnating, through our valley, I longed for rain again […]
What Destabilizes Identity?
I immensely dislike the verb destabilize. I seek stability; I don’t want anything to mess with my calm, inner world where I know who I am, what I stand for, and what I’m doing. But when an experience comes along that destabilizes me, I don’t know how to recover. I feel immediately disordered. I feel […]
A Biblical Definition of Flourishing
I read in Psalm 53 how David contrasts a flourishing person to someone who instead boasts, deceives others, trusts in wealth, and uses power to bring others down. But then, David writes: But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. […]
Speaking Purpose Into Situations
Today my friend explains a translation of Jesus as “Wonderful Counselor” in Isaiah 9:6. Instead of thinking of counselor in the sense of giving advice or direction, the Hebrew words approach more closely the sense of “speaking purpose into” something. God speaks purpose into everything. He’s the Wonderful Counselor of directing meaning into what seems […]