There’s a lot of temptation in ministry to be big. Big building, big budget, big numbers. As an author, I travel to speak at a lot of big churches, and I’m always amazed at their reach, their ministry organization, their long lists of volunteers and staff. One of the best parts of my job is…
Faithfulness
It All Holds True
The sunlight lengthens across the dining room table where I sit and write. It’s late afternoon and in this part of the world, we’re enjoying that gold stretching of light at the end of the day. I couldn’t sleep last night, tossing and turning and trying to figure out why I’ve had so much trouble…
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…
I Need You to Read Your Bible
“I can’t believe I’m asking you to pray for this,” I told my friend sheepishly. “It’s the dumbest prayer request. I mean, God has said no for such a long time, why am I still pushing for a yes?” I laughed into the phone, but an errant tear slipped down my cheek. “I want you…
The Word That Never Fades
Last December, one of our faithful elderly church members passed away. As frail as his health had been prior to his death, his wife of seventy-one years had already been suffering from Alzheimer’s. She was recently moved to a nursing facility that specializes in the type of care she requires. As restrictions have recently lifted…
Sorrow, Joy, and Forty Years
A warm June rain soaks the world outside my window. We’ve had a few of those wild, humid summer storms that send us to the basement listening for the tornado sirens. But not today. Today, it’s just a good, gentle soaking. While I sit at my dining room table tapping away on my laptop, everything…
Aging Doesn’t Make You Faithful. Jesus Does.
When I was in my early 20’s I did not have any regular habits of Bible-reading or prayer. None. That hadn’t always been the case, but somewhere around the time I graduated from college, I allowed busyness and other pursuits to rule my time. I had every excuse: I was working a lot, I was newly…
The Danger of Drifting in a Pandemic
Last summer, my family spent a week at the beach on Tybee Island in Georgia. Like most vacation beach spots, the Tybee shore is dotted with brightly colored condominium rentals anchored in the sand. While swimming in the ocean with my eleven-year-old son, I pointed out a bright yellow set of condos and told him…
Losing Youth, Gaining Growth
This morning I realized a universal truth for women: under-eye concealer only goes so far. I’ve tried a lot of beauty products over the last few years to slow the visible process of aging, but no matter what concoction I slather on my face every night or sponge around my eyes in the morning, the…
Music Lessons
I picked out a tune on my grandparents’ old Wurlitzer when I was quite small, plucking the keys to make a melody I recognized. I could hear harmonies before I knew what they were, so my parents signed me up for music lessons when I was seven. I learned basics with one teacher, then switched…