Do you remember the vultures in Disney’s 1967 Jungle Book movie? The Beatles look-alike, sound-alike characters? I often think of their patter, “What we gonna do?” “I dunno. What you wanna do?,” when I think of the indecisiveness that can creep into motherhood. If your answer to the question: “what do you want to do?”…
My 16-year-old headed for the door with baseball gear slung on one shoulder and backpack over the other. In his wake was a palatable trail of weariness and anxiety. I called to him and he stopped, sporting a resigned expression. “I just want to say I’ve been praying for you since 4:00 this morning,” I…
I felt so guilty at the close of the day, headed to a farm with friends to grill, and dream, around a fire pit. I knew I would feast on beauty in all its forms – relationships, food, and nature – and had spent the day similarly. Intentionally carving out space of time to attend…
I am insecure. Way more than I’d like to admit. Way more. When we get home from parties, I replay social interactions in my head because I’m afraid I might have said something strange or wrong or unintentionally hurtful. Often I find myself hesitating to initiate conversations because I convince myself that the other person wouldn’t…
My hair fell out on a Friday; I was enduring breast cancer treatments. To prove his solidarity, my husband attacked his thick, silver hair with an electric razor that was as out of control as our lives appeared to be. Friends and family members of cancer patients suffer, also. They often struggle with fear and…
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me…” The first time I ever felt my chest tighten like it could cut off…
Avoid. Bypass. Duck. Evade. Dance around. Sidestep. We’ve all done it. Avoiding eye contact in the church lobby with a woman you enjoyed working with on a committee at church until you had THAT discussion. Crossing the street when you see a neighbor who just lost his wife in a car accident. Letting your phone…
I am so sick of fame and fortune. Sigh… You may wonder what in the world I’m talking about since I’m not famous. Most likely you don’t know me. Not even everyone in my writing group, the Redbud Writers Guild, knows me. And as for fortune, I’m sure I would be considered fabulously wealthy if…
Sometimes I think of faith as a void and then I will immediately backtrack over my thoughts with what I have been told the answer is. I suppose that if faith is the size of a mustard seed, then it’s possible that it is so small that it’s imperceptible until it springs a bud. In…
“I think God is calling me to write a book.” She’s sheepish with the news, wondering what I think of the idea. But I need backstory, so my friend recounts how on three separate occasions, she’s been told by three separate people (all strangers) to write a book. Who am I to argue with that,…
Allow me to tell you a story. There is a woman, worried for her daughter. She has tried everything with no success, but today she has a new idea. A teacher and healer has slipped into town, his reputation preceding him. The odds that he’ll see her, or help her, aren’t great – but this…
As cross-cultural missionaries, one of the questions most asked of my husband and I is, “How can we pray for you?” Christians know that prayer is a powerful way to support, network with, and/or minister to another person. As James writes, prayer “has great power as it is working.” Regardless of who we are or…
“I’m mad at God.” It felt right and true as the words came out, even though I had had no such thought just moments prior. I was huddled on my comfy couch with 3 women, one of whom I had met a mere hour earlier, to watch the live stream of IF: Gathering. Months before,…
We were raised to be timid, most of us. In the tiny white churches speckling the countryside, we were taught to be cautious, to be courteous, to be kind and good and avoid even the appearance of evil. Being a good Christian looked like wearing clean, pressed clothes to Sunday School, like going to grandma’s…