I think I’ll give up on watching the news. It’s just too hard. There is war and sickness, violence, fear and hate on display in high-definition, wide-screen color. It’s devastating. As a child of God, my response to the pain in the world should be to pray, taking the concerns of my heart to the Throne of God. But there comes a point when the pain is overwhelming, and I can’t even find the words to pray.
Continue ReadingOn Endurance and Letting Go
As a young man, my dad had a large original oil painting hanging in his apartment. It depicts a vase full of cheerful, daisy-like flowers painted in the hallmark colors and character of the early 70s: loud, gaudy and stylized; it’s a fitting tribute to the culture of that era. Years later the painting found a prominent place on our family room wall.
Continue ReadingTender Loving Church
In recent weeks, a horrible virus swept through some of my family. It was one of those times you are sick where there’s not a name like strep, where you can easily pop some meds, and it will all fade away quickly.
Continue ReadingStruggle
When I was largely pregnant with my first son, we had a chimney fire in our house. Something had gone wrong in the night with our oil furnace, the chimney clogged up, and it caught fire. We were awakened by a pet that was upset about the smoke filling the house (the smoke detectors went off a minute later). My husband, a volunteer firefighter at the time, ran to see what was happening and to call 911. I wrapped our toddler daughter in a blanket and ran to the neighbor’s house.
Continue ReadingSing to the Lord
When I was very young, my family lived in a house heated by a coal furnace. In the evenings, my father would bank the fire in the furnace; i.e., he would cover the hot coals with a layer of ash. This would keep the fire burning all night and would make it easier to get fresh coal burning in the morning.
Continue ReadingThink About These Things
Philippians 4:8-9 provides a framework for what we ought to stay our minds on. Things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy—these things pour back into our mental energy.
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