finding God in the wasteland (Isaiah 35:1)
WordPress dutifully screens the comments that come to my blog, and deposits spam into the trash folder. Sometimes I read over them for a good giggle before I hit the "Delete Permanently" button. How can I not laugh when I get instructions about how to build big muscles, or how to improve my English while …
Often when I make a mistake, I feel foolish and sick at heart, and apologize all over myself. I'm so sorry I did that! It was so dumb of me. I'm so stupid sometimes. I've done this repeatedly in awkward situations or difficult relationships. When tension arises, I often take the blame and retreat. But …
I did not think I was going to write another post on church rules, but as I read the comments and emails following my simple story, one piece of the whole subject kept peskily scratching at the door of my mind. My story left out important parts of the church rules discussion because I cannot …
On a Thursday morning about a year ago, I received one text after another saying a variation of the same message: "We won't be coming to small group tonight." The house was cleaned (no small feat with my little children), the shopping was done and the food was made, and Will had a lesson prepared. …
Growing up, I was mostly very compliant with rules of any sort. I didn't just accept everything at face value--I often turned things over in my mind and tried to make sense of them--but I didn't usually challenge those things even if I thought they might be wrong. For me, keeping peace and avoiding hurt …
I almost feel apologetic for the pensive nature of my last few posts; I say almost, because the reality is that life is not always easy, and sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for each other is to say "I identify with you." Still, last night as I was drifting off to sleep, …
Laughter regularly splashes over my life, such as when my three-year-old mischievously puts his clean clothes in the fridge, and when my six-year-old exclaims, "Mama look in the mirror! Your eyebrows are bushy." I find joy in new friendships and new opportunities. I am forever grateful for a good family and a cozy nest to …
When Will and I got married, we bought a dear little three-acre patch of overgrown property in the country. A crumbling-down house stood in one corner of the lot, and most of the rest of the area was covered with trees--a luxury for Kansas. We cleared out a space in the trees and moved in …
As a child, I carefully kept my precious nickels and dimes in a ceramic pig. Sometimes after thinking about it for a few days, I went upstairs to my room and pulled out my piggy bank. I sat on my bed, turned the pig upside down, and pried the rubber plug loose. Shaking a nickel …
When I first read this paragraph from God's Country: Faith, Hope, and the Future of the Rural Church by Brad Roth, my mind leaped to a scenario exactly like Roth described: a community losing its missional bearings and directing its energy into constructing a recreational building. In the church, we so often favor the concrete …
