When I began to grow grapevines, one of the hardest things to do was to prune them. I understood that pruning was necessary if I wanted grapes and not just vines, but apart from that, I had no idea what I was doing. It was heart-rending to remove so much Read more…
Why a dishwater disciple? Not because my favorite place to be is up to my wrists in soapy water and dinner fragments, but because, if following Jesus is not more common in my life than dishwater, it is worthless. He lived the life of a common human and called run-of-the-mill Read more…
I have had the most disappointing garden season ever (and in our part of the country, winter is prime gardening time)! Most of my carefully tended, pre-sprouted seedlings got eaten by snails, birds or a rat. The few that remained have not been productive or sturdy. Only the radishes flourished, 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…
Following Jesus every day in the everyday is sometimes a glorified housekeeping job… There are enough different uses of the word “house” in Scripture that when, as a New Testament believer, I encounter Old Testament passages about God’s house, I have to ask the Holy Spirit for understanding about what 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…
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…
What’s the biggest thing you and God have ever done together? If you are thinking “coming to faith in Christ,” Paul tells us in Ephesians that that’s pretty much all God, with even the faith to believe coming to us a gift. He takes us while we are completely unable Read more…
Good morning, Papa-God. Thank You for cool air, A table and chair, Smoke to ward off mosquitoes, Bird-call to welcome the sun, Kingdom work to be done. Thank You for a place to welcome others: Teenage son and weary mother. Thanks for seeds to grow and feed, Abundant meeting of Read more…
Lest you think that my life of following Jesus every day in the everyday is somehow floating blissfully over a verdant landscape flowing with milk and honey, it’s time for more full disclosure. Sometimes, my relationship with God looks more like a slugfest. On Sunday Pastor Adam gave up stepping Read more…