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 […]
Sometimes I think it might be easier to be faithful to Christ when life is hard. Do you know that feeling when you get to the other side of a crisis and once you finish basking in the way everything held together, you wonder what it will take to recover your tight-fisted grip on the […]
For dinner that night, I’d roasted some potatoes and seared some spicy chicken (which my seven-year-old deemed way too hot). Before we ate, we grabbed hands as my husband prayed. He mentioned some news of the day in his prayer, things we wanted to remember before the Lord. A couple from church had suddenly lost […]
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 […]
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 […]
I took my laptop to the hospital. I don’t really know what I was thinking. When I’d packed it in my tote bag, I figured there’d be lots of sitting and waiting—and there was. But did I really think I’d do anything but stand next to my son’s hospital bed? Because that’s what I did […]
Sometimes I give my kids candy after dinner to keep them at the table longer. Last night the conversation around the dinner table was somehow memorable and weighty and at the same time funny and lighthearted. During our Bible reading, my 7-year-old climbed in my lap, and I thought to myself, “Remember this.” Both boys […]
