what is worse than pain?
There is, I’ve found, something that is actually WORSE than the insidious vice grip of chronic pain that has had my by the neck for literally as long as I can remember. This is something WORSE than going from doctor to doctor to doctor, and leaving time and time again without an answer or a cure. Something WORSE than the constant suggestions, the “yes, I’ve already tried that,” the actual trying of five thousand different medications or diets or supplements or back-woods remedies. The hopes rising—then the disappointment inevitably falling like a thick blanket...
Read Morewhen god (and your daughter) turn your life upside down
It would appear God is preparing to stretch me in ways I wasn’t quite prepared to be stretched. The writing thing? Yep. Was prepared for THAT stretching. Knew it would be uncomfortable. Knew it would be hard. And time-consuming. And eeeeeeennnndlessssssssss. But these newest helpings on my plate? I don’t know where they came from. I just looked down and they were suddenly there, touching the other food on my plate and overwhelming me a bit with their portion size. Both of these big scoops of faith-stretching goodness have to do with my middle...
Read Moresurrender as the key to finding joy
Finally, if we are to enjoy life in all of the fullness of the Joy of the Lord, we must learn to practice surrender to God’s purpose in and for our current season of life. I don’t know about you, but this is the hardest for me right now, friends. I naively thought that once my children were in school they would need me less and I would have more time to pursue my own interests and calling. To say I was wrong would be a grave understatement. If anything, I think, in many ways, they need me even more. And it is a challenge, some days, to not balk under this precious yet weighty...
Read Moreturning from unhealthy relationships
In seeking to become BETTER—to become more like Jesus—we must make two important turns in our lives. Simply put, we must turn away from sin—this is the first important change in direction that must be navigated. But this is not enough. We must then make the second and most crucial turn: we must turn toward Jesus. On Monday, we talked about turning FROM sinful hearts TOWARD the healing Cross of Christ. Today, we will discuss turning from sinful, unhealthy ways of relating toward a biblical, Christ-like way of loving one another with wisdom. There are three crucial about-faces we...
Read Moreinterruptions
He came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy carpenter. God tapped humanity on its collective shoulder, “Pardon me,” he said, and eternity interrupted time, divinity interrupted carnality, and heaven interrupted the earth in the form of a baby. Christianity was born in one big heavenly interruption. Max Lucado
Read Morewish lists
I really must stay out of the toy store. It’s just not a safe place for me to be. Nor is it a good place for me to be—with aisle upon aisle beckoning me to spend money I don’t have on gifts my child doesn’t need for a room that has no further space. And yet each year I find myself, somehow, in the middle of the store with my heart being wrenched by the same conflict as last year. When will I get it, Lord? Her little mind is filled with thoughts of Barbie, Hello Kitty, and the Power Puff Girls (where on earth did she pick up the Power Puff Girls?) Her wish list weighs down with the...
Read Morecheer
At the end of every year, Mrs. Williams honored her kindergarten class in front of their parents by picking one word she felt best described them. Ruth’s word for my daughter came as no surprise to me, and though it wouldn’t have been my first thought, it definitely would have been perhaps my second or third. My daughter, Mrs. Williams recognized, was “encouraging.” As her mother, I, of course knew this. I had watched her comfort and coach and coax and cheer every unsuspecting child who crossed her path from the time she was big enough to have other people smaller than she. And while...
Read Moreequal and opposite
Well, Friends, the laws of physics state that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I know this to be all too true. The examples in my life are endless: go on a diet to lose the last ten pounds you regained, and your body will react with an equally strong and completely insatiable urge to ingest LOTS of carbohydrates. Begin a new level of working out, and get derailed with an injury. Attempt to claim back your calendar, and six new events will magically pop up. Take a stand against fear and prepare to step out in confidence, and get knocked completely on your...
Read Morea sure sign
I liked the sign a lot better when it was broken. A bit of an institution in our neighborhood, the sign stands along High Street near where we live and go to school, advertising a local mom-and-pop variety dry cleaners. Given that we take High Street nearly everywhere, my children and I regularly watch for their weekly wit and wisdom, spelled out in mis-matched plastic block letters changed with a big long pole and their grandson’s sturdy arms. “Ouch,” the sign read when it was hit a few months back, one of its most profound moments. And then the sign was silent. But the...
Read Morea picture paints… (end of the school year gallery)
A peek at our last two weeks–Bub’s awards banquet, during the week of cheerleading tryouts. (She is now an official member of the 7th grade squad!) She received, at the banquet, the award for 6th Grade...
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