I woke up in the wee hours of morning to a little girl in fuzzy gray footed pajamas clutching at my arm. "I'm scared," she said in a small voice. Bleary with sleep, I sighed and briefly contemplated sending her back to her crib. But before I could send her back, my heart took charge …
Tag: Christ’s body
Participating with God during the COVID-19 pandemic
The internet is an overwhelming place right now. Yesterday Will and I discussed it as I dropped sweet corn seeds into a newly-tilled patch of earth in our front yard. "It's like walking into a room where 30 people are all screaming at you," Will said. The current coronavirus pandemic has made many people nearly …
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Winter
Every winter I hit that spot when it feels like winter will never leave. Here in Kansas we don't even have the beauty of glistening snow to brighten our days; except for rare snowfalls, the days are an endless succession of shades of brown. The trees are brown, the grass is brown, the street is …
Deafness, and the goodness of God
The past few months have been so overwhelming I have found it almost impossible to write. I remember once reading that how women respond to the intensity of childbirth tends to be very much like they respond to other big events in their lives--some women feel the need to turn outward with their emotions and …
Two Men
During my teenage years, my family often went across the mountain from where we lived to a place called Penn Valley Christian Retreat. Penn Valley hosted lots of seminars with topics ranging from finances to missions to Christians in healthcare. Being an inquisitive bunch, my siblings and I would take in seminars just because we …
Jesus, Who Lives in Mud, by Lucinda J. Miller
A few days before Easter: I stride in boots down the gravel road that runs past our house, look back at heel prints left in soft dirt. Water and half-melted snow pool in ditches. I scoop up a handful of soggy gravel and smell it, but the peculiar scent of earthy spring is not in …
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Hearing the Voice of Jesus, by Ryan McKelvey
“Lord, to whom else would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.” (John 6:68) We were halfway through our four-day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. We were long past the beauty of the Potomac River, but too far from civilization or the promise of pizza to quicken our steps. It was …
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The wisdom from above is peaceable
Sometimes my head hurts with the clamor of the world around me. Social media is full of arguing--people are angry and opinionated and sure that everyone else is wrong. Families divide over differences, refusing to see how each generation has unique gifts to offer. Churches debate the Bible and get ugly over what should be …
They came for him yesterday
The social worker came for him yesterday. She stepped inside our door, and our child ran crying into the kitchen. He cried and clung to Will, his two-year-old tears saying, "Don't let them take me away!" Will picked him up, held him close, then buckled him in the car seat, and they took him away. …
The Prophecy I Didn’t Want to Hear
I sat in the second row from the front at the Leaders Alive conference, my heart crying out to God for answers. "Talk to me, God!" I prayed. "I need to hear from You!" I was struggling with acute loneliness where God had placed our family. Even though I loved our small town, I had …
arabah rejoice 