Every year, I search for Christmas poems, stories, and traditions that stir my soul and keep my focus on Jesus. Perhaps none has tugged on my heartstrings like the treasure I am sharing with you today. It is a letter that could have been written by Mary. Join me now and let’s peek over Joseph’s shoulder as he reads this letter from his beloved. Read more…
Life wasn’t turning out like I thought it would. There would be no gaggle of laughing children filling my home, no crowded kitchen table at mealtimes, no juggling of kids’ busy schedules. My first child would be my only child. And while I was so grateful to have this walking, talking, bundle of love, this wasn’t the way I had envisioned life unfolding. 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 was checking out my Facebook posts and feeling a little bit left out. It seemed everyone was having a big ole time with family and friends, and well, I wasn’t. It was the holiday season and it appeared all the family gatherings were picture perfect…and mine wasn’t.
Pinterest postings of perfect sausage pinwheels. Facebook pics of glittery table setting with Christmas China and matching napkins. Read more…
Family can get really messy over the holidays. My family growing up was one big mess on every-days. Â Fighting. Arguing. Yelling. Crying. And eventually, a lot of forgiving.
If ever there is a place to learn about forgiveness…to practice forgiveness…to struggle with forgiveness…it is in the context of family. And interestingly, it is in the context of family where the word forgiveness first shows up in the Bible. Read more…
I sat in the dimly lit room with soft music wafting through the air, and I began to relax. No this was not the prelude to a romantic evening with my husband. It was my yearly eye exam!
If you’ve ever had an eye exam, you’re familiar with the refraction test the doctor uses to determine if you need glasses and if so, Read more…
I know that most of you in my online family know the story of how I came to faith, but I realize that many of you don’t. So, I want to take today to share it with you. If you’ve heard it before, perhaps this would be an opportunity to forward it to someone who might be encouraged by it. Read more…
Have you ever felt stuck in your faith? Like you can’t seem to grow any deeper? Stand any stronger? Believe any better? I know I have.
Sometimes I feel like a trapeze artist who’s stuck hanging over the vast expanse in a circus tent, wondering why I can’t fly through the spiritual life with the greatest of ease like so many others seem to. Read more…
Have you ever been so discouraged that you just wanted to stay in bed and pull the covers up over your head? Maybe that’s where you are right now.
I felt that way last Christmas when my son and daughter-in-law didn’t make it to our house for our much longed for, much planned for holiday visit. A snow storm canceled their flight and it was too dangerous to drive. Read more…
Do you remember the first Rocky movie? (I just looked it up and there have been eight.) In the very first film about the Italian Stallion, Rocky Balboa falls madly in love with the very demur Adrian who works at a Tropical Fish pet store.
Adrian is a very intelligent, shy, and cautious. Rocky is, well, none of those things. Read more…
