God doesn’t like you. He tolerates you. He has to love you, but He doesn’t have to like you. Have you ever heard something like this in your head? That thought lived in my head most of my Christian life, ready to pop out at any given moment to harass me. Sadly, I believed it…
“Alert! Alert! Incoming. Open all pathways from the ears to the brain. This will knock your socks off.” These words resounded in my mind as said ears heard the pastor say, “Shalom means so much more than our English word for peace. It means an all-encompassing wholeness. It’s more than the absence of war or…
A 3,000 piece puzzle has taken over my dining table, and much of my life, since the beginning of July. It seems only fair that if I am to put its broken pieces back together, it should give me something in return. It chose to give me some life lessons. Some are obvious, like how…
My favorite morning walk is on a path outside my subdivision. The “path” is a sidewalk up the rise from a wash (think dry creek bed). In the spring blossoming flowers and trees arise from the most unlikely plants. It’s beautiful and is a good place to hear God’s voice. After several months of weather…
My skill is stealthier than a Ninja and stronger than Superman. It seeps into the smallest crevices. My skill is so powerful it impacts lives. I bet you are wondering what my super skill is. It’s watching my grandsons build Legos. “Ha Ha,” you say. “Funny.” No, I’m serious. It started when each of the…
Bentley’s disconsolate eyes stayed fixed on the window. His body sagged over the arm of the chair as a discouraged “oompf” eased out of his mouth. He allowed me to distract him with games for a few minutes, then drug himself back to his vigil. We followed this pattern for hours. A brief joyful playtime…
In recent months I joined a Bible Study at my new home church. I love that the goal is to go deep, rather than just look at the facts. Don’t get me wrong. I love the facts of Bible stories. They are ingrained in my mind from so many years of teaching them to children,…
I forgot my glasses. Again. Ugh. Without them I could not see the tiny grocery labels, nor the novel I brought to read while waiting for my hair appointment. It happened often enough in the early days of needing glasses that a friend and I worked up a reminder. I’d say out loud, “I have…
Like many of us in the world, I have an issue with my weight. Whether underweight or overweight, getting to an ideal size is hard. And though it’s hard to believe, those who suffer from being underweight struggle just as much as their sisters with the opposite problem. Clothes are hard to find, health is…
I didn’t listen to my gut (AKA God) when I asked the keynote speaker, Robin, if I could pray for her 10 minutes before we were to start. She was typing on her phone and busy. I knew others had likely already prayed over her. But. After all, I was on the prayer team. That…