I was a junior in college when I realized she was a universalist. My favorite author, whose lyrical style and captivating storytelling filled my bookshelves, had finally shown her cards in one of her non-fiction works. I had to read the paragraph three times to realize that she had departed from the gospel of Jesus…
Can I Trust God with My Child’s Suffering?
He was eating a waffle. Just sitting across the café table from me, all gangly arms and legs, eating a waffle that he’d covered in maple syrup. He’s just turned ten, and I’m increasingly aware of the mere three inches between our heights. I picked at my salad, trying to decide if a cup of…
When You Need a Do-Over at 9 a.m.
It was a lot of spilled milk, really. A turned-over bowl of oatmeal, a pile of laundry that had not been put away despite a dozen reminders to do so, an argument over which shoes to wear. It was a sharp word here, a contentious dripping there. Little by little, every occurrence of frustration fed…
Look at Jesus Until You See Him
We were sitting in a circle on a Wednesday night in the part of the church building called the parlor. If you grew up in a Southern Baptist church there’s a good chance you know which room it is. It’s got mauve wallpaper and darker mauve carpet and chairs made to appear Victorian but that…
What is a Praying Life?
It was summertime when it happened. I remember that because my grandmother’s second story bedroom had a big window where warm summer sun poured into her room, making her collection of succulent plants happy, I’m sure. I used to break off a tiny piece of her aloe plant to squeeze out some of the sticky…
Hear the Voice of the Lord. And also, Obey.
I’d been running behind all day, and on this particular Monday afternoon, I found myself racing through the grocery store near dinnertime. I wasn’t even sure what we were having yet but knew I needed to finish my shopping quickly to get home to my hungry family. While speeding through the frozen food section, I…
Running Toward Godliness
I used to be a runner. I ran almost every day and planned my Saturdays around higher mileage long runs. I cross-trained on my days off and organized my family’s evening meals around what kind of run was on my schedule the next morning. I had all the weird accouterments that runners like to collect:…
Ours is an Every Day Gospel
I tried to ignore the gospel this morning. My alarm sounded rudely at 5 am, and I spent fifteen minutes trying to convince myself that the world might look a little brighter if I turned my back on it for another two hours. But the discouragement that weighed down my heart, my bones, my eyes…
More than Many Sparrows
“Is the Lord enough for you?” he asked me. It was late, nearing midnight, and rather than sleeping, my husband and I were sitting in the living room discussing some current challenges in our life. And by “discussing,” I mean that I was loudly airing my frustrations and expressing the awful truth that I did not…
Peter’s Saturday
There is no New Testament person I identify with more than Peter. Impulsive, short-tempered, driven by emotion, the pre-resurrection Peter reminds me a lot of the face I see in the mirror every morning. He is given to fear, even in the presence of Jesus. Remember him on the water, in the garden, in the…