But What if God Doesn’t Do What I Ask?

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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It’s Time to Grow Up

My husband and I stayed in a motel in Nashville two nights before a tornado ripped through the area. We watched the destruction on television and wondered at the fact that we were just there, in its path. We marveled at our last minute decision to come home two days earlier than planned. A few […]

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The Panic of Going Below the Waves

What would it have been like to reach a hand to Jesus’ shoulder where he slept and shake him awake? We relate well to the waves of Mark 4 splashing into the boat, the wild winds and terrifying storm bigger and greater than our ability to bear. We understand that sinking feeling, and the panic […]

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Follow the Rules for Goodness Sake

“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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What a Thorn Patch Teaches About Marriage

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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Looking Beyond

After a string of long days, it had culminated into the perfect storm. My two-year-old, four-year-old, and seven-year-old each had the issues of a titanic about to sink. All at the same time. Temper, stubborn and bossy. I’d hit at least 80% of the never-would-I-ever-do-as-a-mother vows in one day. The control I should have had […]

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Love, Social Media and Noise

In the love month, my challenge to you is to read what is called the love chapter in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13 always convicts me of straying tentacles of my heart strings, and is always worth its read. If you are acquainted with the chapter, you might recognize it in how it spoke to […]

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Even Bathroom Stops are Wonderful in the Eyes of a Child

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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Life Will Never Be The Same

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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All for Jesus. Sorta. Kinda. Well Almost.

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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