I remember back to my grammar school days. (Yes, I can actually remember back that far.) Of course we studied math, science, English, and the other grade school subjects. We worked our way through homework assignments and hours of classroom instruction, reading the textbooks and absorbing information. Then at long last, there would come a day of reckoning. Test Day. That was the day we were put through our paces, our teachers eager to see how much knowledge we had retained. Our test results would help them determine if we were ready to go to Continue Reading
May 29, 2013 By
A Deliberate Peace
I’m trapped in a house of testosterone. One husband, two sons, and not a scrap of femininity in sight. As the sole female in a man’s world, I’m just about able to cope with socks on the floor, toilet seats raised and the ape-like slamming of doors and drawers. But I draw the line at television viewing. At the end of the day, when I’m trying to unwind and prepare for sleep, I really don’t think Die Hard III or Crime Scene Investigation is going to speed me to my dreams. So when we’re choosing what to watch I insist, time and again, “I want to Continue Reading
April 24, 2013 By
What, Me, Worry?
What does a girl do when she’s anxious? In my case, she bakes oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, settles down in front of her favorite chick flick and proceeds to eat the whole batch into oblivion. Chewy, sweet, slightly nutritious… escapism. There are so many things that set our nerves on edge these days. We worry about our children’s safety. We hear stories about people showing up at schools with shotguns and predators’ trolling the internet. Our schedules seem to be non-stop, finances and relational issues bog us down, and we torment Continue Reading
July 13, 2012 By
Tearing Down the Walls, Weeping to the Hymns, and Singing in the Rain
This week some walls came-a-tumblin’ down. Inside the sanctuary of my church, we began a three day tear down—after 30 years of non-stop use, our church home is being remodeled, reworked, and being called The Restoration Project. A few hundred of us showed up with tools, axes, gloves and elbow grease, and the demolition began. Crowbars creaked planks apart, axes were wielded with aplomb, and lighting fixtures came down; the people of my church earnestly tackled the demolition just as earnestly as they have tackled missions trips and singing with Continue Reading
July 6, 2012 By
Perseverance – My Saturday Morning Devotion from Exodus 2012
I have always thought the end of a conference was one of the hardest times to navigate: we’ve been in a cocoon-like world, a back-to-the-womb time. We expressed, received and gave. Then the inevitable happened: we came down from the mountain to face a huge paradigm shift and a series of ups and downs. (Mine included delayed flights, stuffy airplanes, and chocolate binges). But reality tends to check us at the door of home sweet home. The things we sought to understand in the insulated safety of that mountain now present themselves squarely Continue Reading
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