Every Good and Perfect Gift

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 I sometimes think life is a little like being on a long road trip.  We encounter periods of smooth sailing punctuated with bumps and potholes.  We see exhilarating views of nature and then, just as we begin to relax, the highway starts to twist and turn.   We hold our breath, grip the wheel and then find ourselves stopped dead at a fork in the road where we’re faced with Continue Reading

Confident Resistance

“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry” Nehemiah 4:7 Imagine what my home would be like if I didn't have any doors, and if my yards didn't have any fences.  Anyone who wanted to could just come in and open the refrigerator, sit on the sofa and run up my pay-per-view bill.  Anyone who wanted to could come into my yard, pick all the plums and enjoy the Jacuzzi.  And when I got home with my Continue Reading

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

Thanksgiving: The Ultimate Survival Technique

It was Thanksgiving 1981, and since I was supposed to be thankful for what I had, I went down the list. I had: -A husband who’d just admitted to an ongoing affair    with a woman he wouldn’t give up. -A two month old son. -A completely uncertain future. -A body exhausted from stress, weeping  and nursing a newborn. -A broken, confused, disillusioned heart. -A mind ready to explode from the traffic going through it. -A holiday dinner to help prepare. -A charade to keep up in front of my family. Thankful? You're kidding, right? Continue Reading