Does He Really?
I’m reading the forward to Immaculee Ilibagiza’s memoir, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. I’m overcome by this quote by Dr. Wayne Dyer: “The laws of the material world do not apply in the presence of the God-realized.” I have no idea what I’m getting into when I read Immaculee’s account. It’s […]
What You Set in Motion Today
I’m listening to Francis Chan speak to a group of 5,000 folks. He says, “Go do something that requires faith.” I realize that every wonderful event in my life almost didn’t happen because of my being too nervous, too insecure, or too self-involved. Marriage, parenting, writing, teaching, or moving to new places? These things aren’t […]
Just Look Up
Every time I feel lost in this new place, I just look up. An enormous mountain rises so high that you can see it no matter where you are. When you observe it, you immediately reorient. You suddenly know which direction to go. I find myself desperate for that mountain. With every turn in the […]
Fling Wide Your Gate
Today in church, the pastor challenges me to “open wide the gate of my heart” to God. I know that verb. Open. It means to remove obstacles and allow the kind of passage that makes an interior fully accessible. Remove obstacles. Allow passage. I ask God to show me any obstacles that keep […]
If Nothing Changes, Then I Don’t Either
I hate change. It makes me anxious. This morning at Saturday Morning Pancakes, my neighbor (the one who showed me the lady slipper orchid) reminds me that when I feel anxious, it’s my opportunity to have faith. I look at her as if she’s just reminded me of my own name. Of course. It’s so […]
A Great Big Show-Off
This morning in the garden, I turn the corner towards my little peony plant. Every time these buds fully bloom, I always think to myself, “Now that’s just showing off!” A peony is just an over-the-top kind of flower. What flair! Pink Peony in Full Bloom I lean in to observe what seems just like […]
Sally Smith Says, “You Can’t Fall Apart Over Things Like This.”
Last night I watch a woman, Sally Smith, standing in the rubble of her mother’s home in Joplin. She turns to Anderson Cooper and says, “You can’t fall apart over things like this.” I burst into tears. Can you imagine your whole life crumbling around you and saying that? What does she know that I […]
Believing the Best
My daughters were flower girls in a wedding yesterday. Their job was to follow the bride everywhere, keep their satin dresses clean, and smile. I envisioned disaster the whole morning. I could just see my youngest stepping on the bride’s train and sending her flying on her face. I could just picture the oldest one […]
The Text Message I’m Waiting For
The text will arrive sometime today. I don’t know when. All it will ask is, “What do you see?” Today marks the beginning of the “What Do You See?” campaign on campus. Students in the graduate student campus ministry receive a random text message from my husband every day for two weeks. When I receive […]
Loving by Faith
This morning, I remember the simplest of truths: I love others by faith. There’s a supernatural, unconditional, pure and deep love that God wants to produce in me for others (and myself). But I cannot conjure it from my own flesh. I cannot think or feel my way into loving folks that, for whatever reason, […]