I discovered this morning that I have been writing 2020 on my journal entries for a whole week! “Understandable,” you say, “It happens to people every year.” Perhaps…but I have also written DECEMBER!!! This is a picture of how life has felt: “Groundhog Day”…over and over, the same day, full Read more
So…I asked for a way to give order to my days, and attempted to make a to-do list that matched my calendar slots. I made a plan. I asked for instruction in what to celebrate in preparation for Christmas. He said, “My plan.” So, I set up the manger and Read more
As the okra plants reach the height their genes call for, they start to blossom and put out fruit on secondary branches, lower on the main stem. This makes the hunt for fruit like a Where’s Waldo puzzle. I can’t just reach for the top of the plant to snap Read more
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! James 2:12-13 I ran across this in my reading today. Talk about a puzzle! Judged Read more
Dear Child, I am sending this so that you know some things for certain. I have always loved you… from the endless un-time before the earth first spun on its axis you have been in my heart. The intricate design according to which you were woven in the mysterious semi-dark Read more
Last week I wrote about taking hold of our thoughts so that we are in calm, joyful agreement with what God tells us in James 1: that difficulties are what is needed to shape us to be like Jesus. But why does it take hard things to make that happen? Read more
It has been an almost unendurably hot summer! Many trees in my neighborhood are brown and crispy. Even the heat-loving vegetables in my garden have struggled to produce. It was even too hot for my okra! The temperature has exposed weakness in the care we give the plants that don’t Read more
One of my friends died. Suddenly. How far is eternity? A breath? A heartbeat? All my days have been written in God’s book since before I was woven in my mother’s womb, all dark and secret. But there’s no expiration date stamped on the bottom of my foot, so I Read more
Yesterday was a day full of ministry opportunities. It was a day of revelation and insight, confession and restoration, battle and victory. In all this, Jesus is the mighty Victor. Overcomer is His name: He overcame Satan’s plot to destroy God’s glory and usurp His throne; He overcame death through Read more
My garden…yeah, about that… My Asian yard-long beans are climbing and blooming, but not bearing. My okra is beautiful and growing, but not blooming. The oregano and mint are threatening to take over the planet! Almost the only things out there I can eat are the weeds! The point of Read more