Susanna Wesley used her apron. They say it was her way of disappearing into prayer. Her 11 children knew what an apron over Mom’s head meant: They better leave Mom alone. I was thinking about Susanna the other day, this heroine of homeschool families and bustling households—the living, breathing Proverbs 31 woman—the ideal mother we…
Jake came to live with Stacy when he was six. Born a fetal alcohol baby, he’d been abandoned as unmanageable by four different foster homes already. His bright brown eyes and mischievous grin signaled a child behind the almost feral face and spidery tangle of skinny arms and legs. Stacy, an elementary school teacher, was…
Quiet time. It’s a description. A noun. A command. A miracle, really. I’m not sure when the phrase “quiet time” became defined by the perfect chair illuminated by the perfect light at the perfect time of day, flanked by the journal that has the perfect paper to capture our thoughts as we study the perfect…
Healthy relational boundaries are kindness in action. Enablers and approval addicts often think they are being kind, but enabling patterns are deceptively destructive. We are not being kind when we inadvertently encourage others to form ingrained habits that are harmful to themselves and others. When we do not tell the truth because we are afraid…
I taught 2nd grade at a small Christian school for a couple of years before moving up to 6th grade. I remember one day in class talking about James, the brother of Jesus. You would have thought I had just told them that the Easter Bunny was real the way some of them reacted to…
Unlike the people of Jesus’ day, or any modern-day religious Jew, most of us do not have the Old Testament as part of our collective memory. Unlike us, the Israelites of Jesus’ day had in their imaginations signs, images, and longings that were formed through their people’s history and the work of God among them….
Today’s younger generations, according to the Pew Research Center, may be leaving religion for good. Four in ten millennials now say they are religiously unaffiliated. They are “now almost as likely to say they have no religion as they are to identify as Christian.“ (1) This may sound alarming especially if you live in a…
She knocked on the dorm room door with fuzzy Sponge Bob pajama pants and a bowl of cereal in hand, looking for a little milk. Her hallmate, the student leader with whom I was co-hosting a small group Bible study, shared some milk and invited her to sit in on our study. The dynamic in…
According to Guinness World Records, “There is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book.” And yet, for a book acclaimed for the teachings of Jesus, its readers—and teachers—have vastly different ideas of what it looks like to follow these teachings. Our tendency is to approach the Bible as…
In July 2020, author and radio host, Eric Metaxas, tweeted, “Jesus was white.”(1) His tweet was in response to news that the United Methodist Church had enlisted author Robin DiAngelo to produce a series of videos about white privilege. He went on to say, “Did [Jesus] have ‘white privilege’ even though he was entirely without…
Each Thursday evening, my routine is the same. Swirl into the house after dinner with my in-laws, help get the bedtime routine off to a solid start, pop downstairs to make a quick cup of tea, and then head back upstairs to the office, where I settle into the rocking chair nestled in the far…
Dear friends, This month, The Redbud Post tackles a scary topic: vulnerability. Think about a country building a defense against invaders. It wants to make itself invulnerable, doesn’t it? Don’t let anyone in who might hurt us. Where are we vulnerable? Shore it up. Well, with a country, that’s a good idea, but with relationships,…
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” I John 4:18 NIV In 2014 my husband went missing in the wilderness. Throughout those first few days of shock and disorientation, and then for the next year-and-a-half, as we searched for him, I needed all the help in the world. When You…
After my husband, Christopher, and I teach together, people often approach us and say, “You two are so vulnerable!” Their feedback is infused with equal parts awe and trepidation. Their responses are correct. We do share vulnerably. In fact, we do more than teach out loud. For whatever reason, God seems to have called both…