Redheaded Sarah was my five-year-old Steven’s babysitter one chilly December night. It was our practice to read the Bible before bedtime, so Sarah opened the well-worn pages to pick up where we had left off in Nehemiah 7 –the long list of family names that returned from Exile to rebuild Jerusalem. Parosh. Shephatiah. Zaccai.
She stumbled through the names as both laughed and giggled at her attempts. Read more…
I sat across the table from a broken friend. Her life was scattered on the coffee shop floor like spilled grounds from the bean machine. Melissa (not her real name) had had an affair, and she finally mustered up the courage to tell me the truth. I knew about some of it, but not all of it.
While listening to her through tears, Read more…
When my brother was a teenager, my mother used to threaten him when he hunched over at the dinner table. “If you don’t sit up,” she would say, “I’m going to buy you a back brace from Sears.” I don’t even know if Sears made back braces then, but it sounded like a pretty good threat to me.
Then I had a son who seemingly grew to six feet overnight. Read more…
I was in college when I met my husband at a Bible study. He was sitting on the floor dressed in scruffy jeans, a red flannel shirt, and a strong face that needed a shave. The moment I saw him, I was smitten. But I didn’t want him to know that.
Steve finally asked me out on a date, Read more…
Sometimes it breaks my heart to talk to women in the church who feel they are less important or less loved than their male counterparts. One day it was a young woman named Jan who was voicing her frustration.
I sat across the lunch table picking at a salad and trying to digest Jan’s words. Her startlingly teal eyes were tinted with frustration at God, Read more…
I’m writing over at Proverbs 31 Ministries today and I thought this might bless you too. Read to the end to see a picture of that little girl.
There I sat. Second row, middle. Front and center. Scared to death. I wasn’t scared of the camera. I was scared of life.
The day I found that picture of myself, Read more…
She was beautiful.
She was bright.
And she was mad at God.
I sat across the lunch table picking at a salad and trying to digest Jan’s words. Her startlingly teal eyes were tinted with frustration at God, primarily because of how she perceived He felt about women.
“I don’t understand God. Read more…
I sat across the table from a broken friend. Her life was scattered on the coffee shop floor like spilled grounds from the bean machine. Melissa (not her real name) had had an affair, and she finally mustered up the courage to tell me the truth. I knew about some of it, but not all of it. The new details were shocking. Read more…
Aren’t you thankful for girlfriends? I know I am. They’ve picked me up when I’ve been down, and set me straight when I’ve needed an attitude adjustment. Two of my neighbors really showed me how this thing called “friendship” is done. Here’s their story.
Looking out my den window I noticed two of my neighbors puttering slowly down the street. Read more…
Have you ever been reading the Bible and suddenly something grabs hold of you so tightly, you know, oh you know, that God has opened your eyes to a new truth? That He has spoken to you loud and clear? Not through someone else, but directly to you? That happened to me one morning while reading the story of Ruth, Read more…