After my extended silence (has it really been that close to a month?!) I feel the need to check in and give a brief update about what is happening in my life right now. I want to write and write and write, about things like a Christian's rights and responsibilities and women in the church …
Category: Inner Life
Peter Rabbit
"The Peter Rabbit movie you returned was two months overdue," the librarian announces. "When we finally got the movie, it no longer worked," she says, "so you will need to pay for a new one. In the future, please do not keep movies so long. We had a list of people waiting for Peter Rabbit …
What Do Women Want?
I woke up around 12:30 this morning with a familiar pain in my knees. With no mother to look after them, I got up and crept out to the kitchen to find the Tylenol. Downing a couple pills with a cup of water, I realized I wouldn't be able to go to sleep until the …
Our Best Life Now
In Joel Osteen's popular book Your Best Life Now, he details how to go about securing the best life possible for yourself, mostly through positive thinking and believing that God will give you everything you want. I thought about this "best life" while struggling through wondering if our family was truly living the life that God …
All Things
Sometimes when I have heard a certain part of a Bible verse emphasized my whole life, I fail to notice the rest of the verse until it pops out and surprises me. I felt that jolt this week while reading 1 Corinthians 14. I had stumbled across an online article that deeply disturbed me. The …
Enduring the cross, despising the shame
If I were to try to convince someone to become a Christian, shame is not a quality I would advertise. I would probably talk about the wonderful sense of being set free from guilt, the comforting presence of a communicating God, and the indescribable joy of Spirit-infused life. Not shame. Certain verses have come alive …
Spam
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 …
Ordinary Families Can Foster
In our yard is a huge oak tree, its branches shading the sandy dirt underneath. Under the tree, a collection of spoons and cups pilfered from my kitchen litters the ground. My six-year-old daughter is the queen of mud pie production, and she takes it on herself to teach our foster children the craft. The …
Tips for Communicating with a Deaf Person
Out of curiosity, I once googled "how to communicate with a deaf person." I read the lists, all written by hearing people. Some of the suggestions were accurate, others made me shake my head in despair or giggle with amusement. A majority group speaking for a minority simply doesn't cut it, so I decided to …
When not to apologize
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 …
arabah rejoice 