My grandmother used to interrupt our stories to correct our theology. We often praise the Lord when He protects us from something or when we barely scraped by in a tough situation. We say things like, “I almost had a car accident today, but the Lord protected me! Isn’t God good?!” or “I was afraid […]
The clouds were pink. And gold. And kind of orange. We’d left an overcast Nashville and slipped in between the gray and blue to a kind of cotton candy purgatory in the sky. I usually opt for an aisle seat, but this was a commuter plane, so if you were in seat A, you got […]
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 […]
The longest my husband and I have ever been apart is eleven days. He went on a mission trip to Malaysia many years ago, and my young son and I spent most of our time counting down the days until we were all together again. I struggled to sleep at night while William was on […]
I talk to myself in the grocery store. It’s not a conscious habit, but it dawns on me occasionally that I’m mumbling when other shoppers give me strange looks or smirk a little as I pass by. But I can’t help it. When I’m shopping for groceries, my mind is focused on my list, my […]
I sat on a dock on the coast of Southern Maine alone with my thoughts. I held an ice cream cone in one hand and struggled to eat it before it melted down my wrist. The wind coming off the sea pulled at the baseball hat hiding my ratty hair. It was quiet save for […]
I’m studying the book of Acts and here’s what I think: Luke was a master storyteller. As he recounts the story of the apostles and the early church, he gives us little notes about Paul to prepare us for his dramatic conversion in Acts 9. Known as Saul, this young man was present at Stephen’s […]
When I was in sixth grade, my teacher had our class memorize Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech. I remember rehearsing the speech over and over with my classmates, trying to memorize it word for word with enough emotion to convince our teacher we knew exactly what Henry meant when he […]
Through the living room window, I watched him throwing a football with our fifteen-year-old son in the backyard. I knew his shoulder was hurting, and I’d expected him to say as much when the request came to toss a ball around. Every day they wait for his arrival: “Mom, when will Dad be home?” When […]
Do you ever look at your life and think, “This isn’t who I thought I’d be by now?” Maybe you thought you’d be more faithful, more studied, more patient, more self-controlled, wiser, holier, kinder. Maybe you hoped that after all these years some of those things you really hate about your old self had stayed […]
