When I walked into the kitchen of our lovely cabin in Colorado, Keane greeted me with shiny eyes. “Baruch haShem!” he said. I almost did a double take. What did my two-year-old just say? Will grinned at me from his position at the coffee maker, and I knew he was the guilty one. Trust my …
Category: Inner Life
Unpacking the Treasure
I posted a quote from Arthur Burk in my post titled Misfit. Here's the quote again: "Are you going to fit the culture and be small inside, or are you going to be a misfit and unpack the treasure within you?" All of us are immersed in culture--in a certain way of doing and looking …
Equation
One night I woke with a start, sensing that something was wrong. Sitting up in bed, I saw a small form standing in the doorway of my bedroom, holding a blanket and crying. "Come, Keane!" I called softly. He toddled over to my bed, dragging his blanket. I picked him up and hugged him. “Are you scared, …
To my band of question-askers
You asked so many wonderful questions! Will you please come sit around my table for a piece of pie and a long talk? It's hard to describe the longing I felt as I read the questions as they came in. I kept thinking, who WOULDN'T want to discuss such great questions? Too many of us …
My First Blog Birthday and Giveaway
A year ago I finally yielded to the burning in my bones and started this blog. I said I'd try blogging for a year, then decide whether or not to keep on. Here is a picture of me writing on a typical Sunday afternoon. Once the children are in bed for naps, I hibernate in my bedroom and …
of death and pain
Yesterday marked the third year since my lovely 18-year-old cousin Anja died. I saw this picture of her on Facebook, and my already-low spirits plummeted. How can death be God's will? When faced with death and pain, so many people piously fold their hands and gaze heavenward and say, "Thy will be done!" as if it really is God's …
A Question Without an Answer
When are you going to write about sexual abuse? they ask me. I don't know, I say. I know so little about abuse. I've lived such a sheltered, coddled life. Yes, I've had my share of pain, but life has been kind to me in that area. What would I say that would not be trivial, meaningless, …
A Model for Missions
In Nik Ripken's book The Insanity of Obdedience, he describes three important elements of a mission effort: the needs of the lost (people without Jesus), worker concerns, and the sending body/agency. One of these elements will be the top focus of the mission, and the other two elements will supplement the main goal. In a worker-concerns oriented mission, the …
Meditation at Midnight
I cannot sleep, Dear God, I cannot sleep! I cannot sleep Because so many hands keep Beckoning me. And faces stare, And voices, piteous voices call Upon the midnight air. And God, O can it be That once upon a time, like me Thou couldst not sleep? Because of many hands Outstretched from all the …
Two Verses For Election Year
For a peace-loving person like me, the fracas of emotionally laden opinions during election year is overwhelming and a bit frightening. I don't know what to do with the sentiments I hear aired so openly and disagreeably. I don't know how to handle the disturbance in my own heart as I look at the moral and …
arabah rejoice 