This week when I was out walking, I saw a perfect tree. I paused to look up and appreciate the sway in the wind, its colors moving in and out of sunlight, its form and height. Under its outstretched arms I breathed a prayer of thanks. I thanked God for the tree in all its […]
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Every morning I take a walk in the city and pass a spot where I can see a massive field of grain. As I top a hill it’s there. My entire vision fills with gold. Day by day whiter, riper, full of grain almost ready to be harvested. It takes me back to those sticky […]
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A round robin family letter, the kind meant to keep families connected in normal times when coronavirus has nothing to do with being apart pops up in our inbox several times a year. Cousins with blood thick enough to span miles and embrace in-laws, convene together in one compiled letter. Pages long, it’s like the […]
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1. What you criticize in others, you likely do yourself. Momma took the lesson a step farther. What you criticize in others you probably are aware of because it’s something you already do in your heart. It was Momma’s form of “get that log out of your eye before you go picking around in someone […]
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How is your, “But even if He does not” faith? My husband, Phil, and I have been reading some of those New Testament verses that beg childlike faith. Verses like, “if you ask me anything in my name, I will do it,” John 14:14 (ESV) and “so that whatever you ask the Father in my […]
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“No, no, no,” he said. He held his little hand like a stop sign. His voice raised a breathy octave. “Let’s not play it like that, let’s say if you want to move ahead on red, you can.” He nodded up and down, cocked his head to the side and put his pleading blue eyes […]
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Anybody who grew up barefoot on a Kansas farm knows about stickers. A flat lying torture-in-waiting plant with seeds like tiny wooden barbs. They spread viciously, looking for tender skin to walk on them. Impossible to let fester, they took a lot of courage to pull out. I hated stickers growing up. Word had it […]
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I heard the truck-stop bathroom door squeak open from my perch inside the painted wooden stall. “Oh Momma!” A little voice said full of wonder. “It’s pink.” Pink was an understatement. It was like Pepto-Bismol trying to brighten up a bad case of the runs. It covered every inch of the public lu. My door […]
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The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:1 (ESV) “Life will never be the same,” I told my friend. “No matter how this turns out, life will never be the same again.” We walked through a white marble hospital corridor, its antiseptic walls […]
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Here they come again. Younger each year, or maybe I’m just older. They come with their finger on a map and feet pointed forward, eager to go anywhere and do anything for Jesus. Men and women arrive ready to learn and willing to obey. Every new group of global workers amazes me with talent, energy […]
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