• To Forgive or Not To Forgive

    Ever since Saturday before last when we all heard Erika Kirk’s amazing words of forgiveness for the man who shot and killed her husband, many of our heads have been spinning with questions and incredulity. How could she forgive him? And why should she even try? If anyone has the right to not forgive, she certainly qualifies. We are in…

  • A Waste of Time

    After spending the morning pulling weeds, I sat on the porch and gazed out at our yard. Was all my effort pulling weeds a waste of time? Would they all grow back? I thought of the many hours I had spent over the years pulling weeds only to have to go back before long to pull more. A weed magnet—that’s…

  • A Sacred Flow of Tears

    …When Our Tears Touch the Heart of God… I HEARD HER VOICE CRACKING as she described the situation in her marriage to me over the phone. She paused briefly, cleared her throat, and resumed her story. I could tell she was trying to hold back her emotions. At the end of our conversation, I asked if I could pray with…

  • My Messy Garden

    FEELING THE NEED for a concentrated time of prayer one morning, I stepped onto the patio with Bible in hand. I felt unsettled and discouraged.  Things were not going as I thought they should, and I felt my heart tugging in several directions.  The needs in my life seemed numerous. I longed for direction, but my prayers seemed to hang suspended…

  • What Do I Do With This New Year?

    THERE’S SOMETHING SCARY  and surreal about entering a new year when your life is in upheaval—kind of like looking ahead into a vast unknown. You don’t know if you want to step out into it, but you know you have no choice. Time propels you forward. Whether you choose to take that step or not, you will be there. The…

  • A Star to Guide Us

    SITTING BENEATH THE STARS at a Christmas concert in the park, I listened to the familiar strains of “We Three Kings” soaring sweetly into the air. As I lifted  my eyes to gaze through the interplay of branches above me, my mind drifted with the words of the song.  I thought about those three kings and the star they followed. …