Does a week’s blogging absence demand an explanation? (I hope so;) I’ve been recovering. Early last week I stood before hundreds of women and told my scandalous story of ‘mad woman redeemed.’ A friend asked, “is this by choice?” My sister said, “No, technically it’s not normal for people to want to confess their ugly past.” I wouldn’t say it…
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I know it’s an old idea. But my joyful expulsion of co-dependent behavior allows me to fly freely in the face of the perception of public ridicule. Besides, if not now, when? It’s my turn to play the Six Word Memoir game. People on Twitter do one of these every minute, which I consider less interesting than trying to creatively…
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I have enjoyed the ministry of Emily Freeman’s Dear Me. I’m late for her submission, but here goes. As I finally sit down to non-chalantly toy with the concept, I’m more in the mood for a list than a letter. It might be because it’s Friday night and we’re watching an odd animated movie by a cozy fire. Or it…
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This week’s lesson in Jack’s Kids-N-Action church group is about arguing. Wednesday, the magnificent youth leader rallied hundreds of kids to holler in unison, “Y’ALL STOP ARGUING!” each time he shouted “what are we gonna do?!” The crammed Castle Room at our church rattled with the chorus of shortpeople yelling, presumably, at their selves. It was adorable and loud. In…
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If its real, it endures. Like Faith that actually changes our life for good. Discipline that’s difficult and fruitful. Fear that must be conquered over and over. A God who invades lives to reveal His love My desire for chocolate sundaes. A relationship of deep trust. If the thing is real, it doesn’t wither or fade with time, but remains…
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Is it breaking any rules if I post two blogs in one morning? (Warning, I might not be done yet.) Thanks Bill Holsinger-Robinson!
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This is a short series called “I TRIED BUT…” I believe in honoring the authority of our leadership even if we don’t agree with their decisions. But now…. I object. He blows off critical meetings repeatedly People die and his office is untruthful His office is untruthful and people die His direction is harmful for the most in need of…
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Exactly as we need. When we need it. No more, no less. Not always what we want, but just what we need. Not always when we can see or understand it. But the longer we live in this light, the more we can see it more clearly. Or at least know it’s there somewhere! Seeing the miracle in the fleeting…
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Ray Sammons is my husband’s father, and while many women are deeply blessed by the men who raised their husbands, I know that I have been uniquely loved by this wonderful man. When God delivered Steve into my then-chaotic life, He knew I needed Ray equally as much. It was 2003. I was stepping blindly through the heavy fog of…
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I only left for 2 minutes. Our freshman volleyball player was ready to be fetched from practice at the high school around the corner. All was peaceful in the house, so I’d handle the retrieval. Dinner would be ready when I got back so we could serve and eat together before scattering again. I dash. Steve is entrenched in a…
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I think I get it. We’re boggled sometimes. Perhaps it’s because so many of us find a new understanding of God and His love for us through his Son only when we drop to our knees in helplessness because we’ve made a mess of our own life…. that we get all boggled up in the notion that we have to…
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Watch my smoke! After a summer of constant, joyful, [hot, dry], adventurous activity, I’m sitting alone on Day One of School with …. rain! I wouldn’t have thought to ask for it, but here it is. The buzzing frenzy of summer – sports camps, weekends Up North, city outings, and even the pressure of seizing the moment — is for…
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My family thinks I’m obsessed with pulling weeds. Truly, I have been known to stop mid-stride to pull one weed, wearing heels and white trousers, carrying my laptop, only to find myself amassing huge green piles as I work my way around the front walk. They could be right. What’s more, my husband is patient with my chronic disease of…
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Summertime Afternoon. Jack and his pal Eden disappear into the game room downstairs and things get dangerously quiet. But at this moment, I’m so far behind in writing and work that I irresponsibly convince myself that they’re having fun and all is good. Carpe 5 minutes. With no worries about markers on walls or pokey-sharp objects, I keep working. More…
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They broke into the iconic harmony of Carry On My Wayward Son, and the nostalgia-hungry crowd stood to their feet. Of all the 70’s bands touring the world right now, presumably because they are managing some equation of “need” and “want”, we find ourselves at the Kansas concert. Really? Kansas? Eldest sister saw Aerosmith in Detroit and OH! how I would have…
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OK, it’s a mid-life moment. We have faced the death of loved ones in surprising amounts in the past year and today we mourn the death of yet another young husband and father who was taken from this earth almost inexplicably. We are relentlessly reminded: It hurts because we love. I don’t typically operate with a maudlin sense of “it…
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Today as I read Dr. Jim Samra’s book, God Told Me I see the direct application of living to listen. I hear a voice that sounds like God on my heart – even today. First, here’s the excerpt: Love is a tricky concept, easily perverted, so God anchors the definition of love in the cross of Christ. With the crucifixion…
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I kneel down to be eye to eye with him This child with the gigantic innocent smile His skin is tan from summer days at the pool and beach His pjs are rumpled; his eyes morning-bright. His little arms swing around my neck …. like God. My heart soars and melts all at the same time. He needs me to…
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If you miss the impossible power of the miracle, you won’t see God. Yes, that’s it. This is where I must stay today. I’m now beginning the wonderful new book by our wise pastor Jim Samra. God Told Me is new jam-packed teaching on listening for guidance from God. “He is a better guide for our life than we are.”…
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SUNDAY MORNING JULY 1, 2012 I thought we’d know by now. I expected to have more clarity, to have finished more, to have a better understanding of the next step. For it is in this hope that we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope…