I watched the sun set from 30,000 feet on a Sunday last month. I was sitting on the front row only because it was a tiny plane with maybe thirty souls on board. Not only does the front row of those planes not mean first class, but there is also no overhead compartment for those…
Everyday Faithfulness
Bible Reading Doesn’t Have to Be a Resolution
I didn’t read my Bible yesterday. That definitely wasn’t an intentional choice. My kids are home on winter break. I overslept. I had an 8 a.m. doctor’s appointment. It was one of those “perfect storm” situations that doesn’t happen often to someone like me who lives and dies by a schedule. But it did happen…
Daylight Saving and Spiritual Disciplines
I’ve long used January 1st as the day I’m going to get my life together. New diet? Clean slate starts January 1st. Exercise plan? I’ll begin on the first of the year. Keep the Tupperware cabinet from throwing plastic containers at me every time I open it? Organization will commence on the first day of the…
Bend Me Toward the Light
Every Thursday, I water my indoor plants. I’ve got a fiddle-leaf fig tree (a plant well known for its finicky nature and a proclivity to simply die without warning) standing tall and proud by a window with southern exposure. I’ve noticed, though, that this little tree bends itself dramatically toward the window even though it’s…
Ordinary Sunday
“Church today,” I wrote in my journal early Sunday morning. “I could really use the fellowship. I’m feeling low.” I put down my pen. I hadn’t slept much. It was a relief to know I’d soon be among my church family, distracted from the interior concerns running through my mind. Better than distracted, I knew…
Grow Like a Houseplant
I must confess, I was a bit of a pandemic cliché. Two years ago, I looked for some at-home hobbies to while away the time during lockdown. Like a lot of people, I baked loaf after loaf of sourdough bread, read numerous novels, and bought about a dozen houseplants. On one of my first weekly…
4 Questions for Your Bible Reading in 2022
Every year, in the days following Christmas, I make promises to myself. Weary of traveling for most of the holidays, sleeping little and eating one Christmas dinner after another, I spend the last days of December mapping out a healthier life plan for the new year that includes more vegetables, earlier bedtimes, and less screen…
Daylight Savings & Spiritual Disciplines
I’ve long used January 1st as the day I’m going to get my life together. New diet? Clean slate starts January 1st. Exercise plan? I’ll begin on the first of the year. Keep the Tupperware cabinet from throwing plastic containers at me every time I open it? Organization will commence on the first day of the…
What the Seasons Say
A few days ago on my early morning walk, I noticed some leaves drifting down from the neighborhood trees. A few leaves scattered in the breeze, falling right in front of me. I happily crunched over them because when the trees start undressing, I remember that the heat of a long, discouraging summer will certainly…
Sometimes I Need a Sunrise
Every morning this week, I’ve watched the sun rise. Every morning, without fail, the sun persistently pushes down the dark of night, lower and lower, into the horizon until I can’t see anything but light. It happens so slowly that you can’t tell it’s happening at all. Were you to try to decide which moment…