“Momma,” he called from the dark bedroom. “Is Jesus here?” “Yes, Justin.” “Ok, don’t worry Mom, we just can’t see Him,” he shouted from his bed. I plopped down on the sofa, letting Justin’s words reverberate in the frayed edges of my mind. What he so blithely acknowledged and accepted I needed in every part […]
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Sunshine bright with glory bathed our tiny backyard. Blue sky beckoned. Winter months had been long for our four-year-old son, and he was ready for play. “If you need me, I’ll call you,” he shouted a split second before the screen door banged behind him. Its echo slammed inside my head. I plopped down with […]
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I was transported. Seriously. When our kids were small we always read a Bible story before they went to sleep. Sometimes we read different books first, but the last story they could always count on to be a true story from God’s Word. “Ok,” I’d transition, “that was a good story. Now we are going […]
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“Try rebooting,” my husband tells me. It seems rebooting is the castor oil of ailing computers. It always gives me a gut ache, like I may never again see beyond the spinning wheel on my screen. I wonder if the disciples may have felt a bit like that after Jesus died. The Easter holiday is […]
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“…be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” When we lived in Italy I loved the day after Easter because it was also a holiday. While Easter Sunday was chocked full of activity, food and celebration, the day after we recuperated. We slept in, chewed on leftovers and reflected on what had just transpired. Jesus’ […]
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In a backdrop of politics, taxes and kings, the disciples came to Jesus with a question. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? It was the underlying challenge of Satan when he sought to be like God. Our children attended Italian public grade school. I remember them lined up, three sets of long […]
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“How did you do it?” my daughter asks with an exasperated sigh, the kind that expires like a thin whisper from her soul. She is weary, and the noise level is high. She plops down next to me in a chair and then leans to one side and pulls out a Lego man from under […]
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Suddenly prepositions and conjunctions are popping up in my Bible everywhere, because in fact, they are everywhere, joining words and clauses. I’ve overlooked them. What are little insignificant words, mere prepositions like “and,” “but,” “or,” “to,” in comparison to the big guns like action verbs, proper nouns and descriptive adjectives? It turns out insignificant connecters […]
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The sun streams through trees, dappling its light across the deck. Its brightness bathes my upturned face in warmth. I sigh, and the sound is a whisper of praise. It is a perfect moment, and I drink it in slowly, savoring its pleasure. Every day has at least one perfect moment. But sometimes they are hard […]
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“The things I do for my kids,” I thought with a half eaten Big Mac in one gloved hand, and piece of wilted lettuce in the other. “But this tops them all.” I stood on a stool leaning into a food court’s garbage bin. I was not happy! Somewhere in either my bin or the one […]
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