I Belong to Jesus. So Does My Social Media.

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  A few months ago, I sat in front of my laptop deep in thought, my cursor hovering over the word “unfriend”.   Right then, I unexpectedly visualized the last person I knew of who had “unfriended” me.   I had been unfriended before but this time was different.   This time, the person was a beloved and respected friend, someone who played an impactful role in my life and my husband’s.   Instead of talking to us personally about an issue, this person chose to abruptly end all contact. It’s been about a year, and though … [Read more...]

Open Hands, Eager Forgiveness

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  I read C.S. Lewis’s excellent book The Great Divorce for the second time a few years ago, and found myself impacted significantly more than the first time I had read it in my late teens. Then, within a year of that second reading, two of my friends went to be with the Lord.   There were two parts of The Great Divorce that have stuck with me, and they both involved forgiveness. The first is the scene where the Big Ghost is horrified to discover that a murderer has been forgiven by the Lord and is also in heaven. Later, in Chapter 10, another ghost … [Read more...]

Cultivating Discretion

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  I recently had an experience where a friend texted me and said "I will never be able to give you the details of the situation but I'm very worried about _______ and I'm asking you to pray." She later texted me to let me know that everything was going to be OK. 15 years ago, I might have persistently asked probing questions like "what is going on? Or, "Can you tell me now?" Now, however, I would like to hope I have grown more in the area of discretion so that not knowing the answers to every question or all the details about a situation is not going to be a … [Read more...]

Replacing Anxiety, Finding Identity

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  For me, one of the most terrifying requests to pray is that God will reveal my sin to me and show me the areas he wants me to grow in. The reason it's so terrifying is because asking him for this requires that I am ready for how he will answer me and most of the time the answers will be uncomfortable. Over the last two years, this prayer has been answered in different ways and situations but there is a common issue at heart, and that is how I deal with fear and anxiety. I've had stomach issues since childhood. Some of them are related to food (I know … [Read more...]

Three Tips When Studying Your Bible Seems Impossible

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  With the birth of our baby in March came the usual accessories: sleepless nights, daytime fatigue, extreme emotions (crying baby and me), and we even topped it all off with some health issues for the both of us. Add to that four other darlings who need constant love and attention, and some less-than-ideal life situations and it seemed like we had the perfect storm.  I felt sapped and was so tired, and so quick to get stuck reading my Bible and getting anything out of it. I kept reading it because I knew I needed to, I wanted to dig deeper, but … [Read more...]