Long before America created an overflowing and beautifully sophisticated Thanksgiving table, thanksgiving was a thing. Before pilgrims gathered around a rough wood hewn table, or a sweet row of little hands clasped in prayer at my own table, thanksgiving was a thing. The Israelites in the wilderness didn’t do so well with the concept of […]
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I tilt my head a bit to look for myself in his stick figure drawing. I wonder is this truly how he sees me? He waits. “Is that me?” I ask. Pen in hand, like Picasso, he nods. Proudly. Seriously. I resist the “looks just like me,” response and go for the, “that’s so good!” […]
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“I don’t have time” is one of those ridiculous things we say pretty much all the time. As if time can be owned. As if we could take charge of it, I mean really, “who’s got the time?” Right? Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and […]
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How dark it must seem to walk in the thick dust of bombed buildings and destroyed lives. How thick would be the despair of cruelty, death and loss. And how desolate feels a future built from rubble and division. “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me […]
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My grandsons are going through the picky eating stage. I’ve watched all fourteen grandchildren hit it along the way, and it never fails to bring back memories of my own children’s fussy eating. Our middle daughter hated peas. I remember waiting one day until she downed the four designated peas on her plate. Her sisters […]
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I heard the bang of a metal door next to me before I leaned down for that “underneath” the gas-station-bathroom-stall search. In my bent over rectangular view, two thick-soled black shoes shuffled against the dirty tile floor. Their slow slide inched forward with obvious effort. Once abreast of my stall door, they would block […]
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“If Jesus wanted to,” my little seven-year-old fellow classmate declared, “He could flatten my thumb and make it big enough to go around the whole world.” He held his thumb inches from my wide eyes. I stared at it without saying a word. I could almost see it spread and widen. I imagined it circling […]
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Have you ever hit a fork in life when you have asked, “Now what?” You might be thinking of the last time you put together a 1,2,3 step project out of the box. Only it didn’t turn out so simple or sturdy as the picture on the package. Perhaps a relationship comes to mind, one […]
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When one of our daughters was in second grade, her school teacher mentioned an issue that she’d observed. Our daughter had begun to limp. She complained about her leg hurting, especially at night. She was going through a growth spurt like many children tend to do, with every hem of her clothing attesting to that […]
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One of my missionary colleagues gave me an illustration of life in the jungle. It held a punch that I hope I never forget. South American roads at times are little more than frequently trodden paths, unpaved and unmarked. When hard rains come, those dirt paths become like sinking mud pits. My friend, shared about […]
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