Holding Joy in the Contrasts of Life
Hiking through the intense Arizona desert a couple weeks ago, my eye was drawn to the long-faced shadows cast by sun without even a wisp of filtering cloud. I noticed how shadows created depth and accentuated beauty of the agave, the prickly pear, the saguaro. Light. Dark. Contrasts. I thought about years past when I […]
The Power of Three
Three deaths. Three funerals. Three weeks. A trinity of holy. 35 years old. Husband. Father of three. Killed in a car crash. 62 years old. Friend. Sister of one of my best friends. Heart attack. 88 years old. Ministry partner for years. So how can such suffering, so close together, be holy? All are grieving, […]
Terrier Terror and What We Have In Common With Dogs
Instinct. That’s what it is—the reason why our little terrier pup scared me by running off into the wild blue yonder after that rabbit. Downright ignored the red bell. And the shaking salami container. Why? Because Baker just had to. Because that’s what dogs do. They follow their nose. Instinct. That’s what drives us all, […]
Wait a Minute!
I worked out hard yesterday because soon I’ll have to shimmy into my shorts. Time to shred the winter belly I swear looks like it was inflated with a tire pump. So I started the DVD. Thought I might die, right there on the family room floor. There was this trainer on the screen, her […]
What To Do With A Snafu
I am experiencing a royal snafu involving my doctor’s office, my pharmacy and my insurance company which has kept me from getting the medication dosage I need for four days. You see, I diagnosed myself years ago and my physician confirmed. I have GAD—Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Medication helps. I also have had a couple major […]
Driving Home
What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. Philippians 1:12 Driving home in the dark last night, angled arrows of head-lighted sleet pelted my windshield, hypnotizing. Wipers on high could not keep up. White-knuckled fingers gripped the steering wheel and my whole body leaned forward, concentrating, praying . . . Please […]
Invisible Threats and Giving Thanks
It’s Thanksgiving week and in Wisconsin there’s a frenzy for bagging a buck, the more points the better. We live in the country. Men in orange (and some women) sit in tree stands, waiting. Some sit in camouflaged blinds, waiting, like my husband and youngest son. They haven’t fired their shotguns yet after two times out. But a huge […]
Some Thoughts on Dying When You Feel Like It and the Hope That Stops You
It is late September. The sugar maple is tinged with fire, a burning mix of orange and red and yellow, engulfing the green. Honking Vs of geese fly over the barn. One yellowed leaf curls on the grass. Three Sandhill cranes lift off alfalfa field, warbling their way into the air, a trinity created by […]
Why Burning Is Good For Our Souls
I answered my cell. “Hey Mom! The barn’s burning tomorrow. We’ll be there at 5:45. Everything’s going down except the house which we’re doing later. Are you coming?” “Of course! You know I wouldn’t miss it!” Zach, our nearly 22 year-old volunteer fireman, was about as excited as his pyromaniac mother. My friend Nancy and […]
Good Friday—Our Hope
Reflecting on what Jesus did on this day brings me to a still, quiet place of awe and gratefulness. I can’t fathom His suffering, His love, His utter determination to not leave us as broken orphans in a broken world. He chose to heal us with his life—and death. His choice cost him everything. We […]
All the Way
Why do we turn away from suffering? Is it because we don’t we want to hear about it, read about it, look upon it? Perhaps you’re tempted to stop reading right now. Have you had just about enough on the topic of suffering? If we turn away, will suffering go away? We hope. But it doesn’t. […]
Can Hope be Born Again?
Our home is filled with Christmas lights. And nightlights. We don’t have little kids anymore and I’m not afraid of the dark. So why all the nightlights? Well, because I’ve stubbed and broken my toes too many times stumbling around in the dark trying to find my way . . . to the bathroom. That’s […]