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…
Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. (Song of Solomon 2: 11-13) As I watch new life springing up from the cold…
AS WE APPROACH Easter and the celebration of the resurrection, we first come to the cross. For before the victory is the pain and suffering. If we are among those who have suffered rejection, we meet there a Savior who knows our pain. For not only did Jesus suffer the pain of an excruciating death on the cross and the…
…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…
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…
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. …
SO HERE WE ARE in the midst of this messy political season– accusations, half-truths and, contradictory statements swirling around us from everywhere. How do we navigate through the confusion to land on the truth of where God would lead us? In the last few weeks my Bible study has been studying Jesus’ letters to the seven churches in Revelation. In…
THE FLOWERS SENT by my publisher after the death of my husband were beautiful. The red and white roses, settled amidst the drama of orchids and the soft gracefulness of blue hydrangeas blended together in a stunning Christmas arrangement that lifted my spirits in the sad days following my husband’s death. Now the flowers were dying. As I gathered the…
I SEARCH THE HEAVENS, looking for what is unseen by human eyes, wondering where you are, what you’re doing, longing to touch you again, longing to hear your voice. The partition between heaven and earth is vast and is not to be traversed by the living. You are on one side of this vast chasm, I am on the other….
THIS FATHER’S DAY I want to recognize a particular group of dads who may approach the day with a bit of apprehension. These are dads I sometimes get emails from who are persevering even in the midst of separation or divorce. Their wives have left or asked them to leave, and the pain of being separated not only from their…