The Mundane Middle

I want you to think about two extremes.  First, think about the best day of your life.  Take a moment to savor the feelings and bask in the memory.  Now, conversely, I want you to think about the worst day of your life.  Don’t stay there too long, but think back to the strong emotion …

By Name

“I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). One of the desires of the human heart is to be known.  More specifically, to be known, appreciated for who we are, and loved.  When someone uses your name, it makes things personal.  If someone knows your name, and uses it when addressing you, …

Follow the Pattern

“I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless” (Psalm 101:2-3). Patterns are a part of life.  Symmetry, in nature and art, is part of what gives a thing beauty.  I remember the symmetry in my grandmother’s quilts as she stitched a hodgepodge …

Willing

This time of year our hearts are turning toward Christmas, and the story we know so well. There is a lot of detail in Luke 1 and 2, beginning with the origin story of John the Baptist. Have you ever wondered why Zechariah was struck dumb for questioning the angel who gave him good news, …

Words and Confessions

Words.  Twenty-six letters in our alphabet.  They can be arranged to create a nursery rhyme or great works like Shakespeare produced.  Letters can be put together in such a way as to inspire, or to criticize, to convey truth, or to spread falsehood.   In the very beginning, the world came into existence with words, God’s words.  The nothingness became …

Live Out Love

“I will show you a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). If you have trusted in Christ, then you are a part of his Body.  Like our physical bodies, this Body has many parts, but all function together, each doing its job.  If one member suffers, all suffer together.  This is easy to understand …

Parent or Guardian Required

Forms are a part of life, beginning in childhood.  I remember all the school and medical forms of various kinds which had to be signed “by parent or guardian.”  I think being adopted must have made me more sensitive to the distinction between parent and guardian, and I remember the feeling of discomfort that some …