• Hope in Suffering

    Lord Jesus, Overcome what Overwhelms Us …

    “Lord Jesus, come yourself, and dwell with us, be human as we are, and overcome what overwhelms us. Come into the midst of my evil, come close to my unfaithfulness. Share my sin, which I hate and which I cannot leave. Be my brother, Thou Holy God.  Be my brother in the kingdom of evil and suffering and death. Come with me in my death, come with me in my suffering, come with me as I struggle with evil. And make me holy and pure, despite my sin and death.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christmas Sermons (HT: Jill Carratini, What God Draws Near?)  

  • Uncategorized

    Want to Create? Do a lot of work …

    If you’re trying to do something well. If you think to yourself, “One day, I want to create something extraordinary.” For all of you who ask me, “How can I be a published author one day?” or tell me, “I want to be a public speaker.” To all of my friends who make the world a more beautiful place through glitter, music, paint, glue guns, dance, gardens, cooking, sewing, and words … This is a very well spent (and encouraging!) 1 minute and 55 seconds:   HT: Z  

  • Uncategorized

    Ex Ore Infantium

    (A great read-aloud poem. Soph and I loved this. I especially liked (cried over!) the section I’ve highlighted …) EX ORE INFANTIUM LITTLE Jesus, wast Thou shy Once, and just so small as I? And what did it feel like to be Out of Heaven, and just like me? Didst Thou sometimes think of there. And ask where all the angels were? I should think that I would cry For my house all made of sky; I would look about the air, And wonder where my angels were; And at waking ‘twould distress me– Not an angel there to dress me! Hadst Thou ever any toys, Like us little girls…

  • Hope in Suffering

    Obscenities Screamed at Me? It’s been awhile …

    I had a strange experience at the grocery store this evening: a woman screamed the most severe obscenities at me in such a venomously furious voice that I actually had a flashback to my childhood. (I grew up in a home with a LOT of swear words and many of them were directed to me.) It was so weird. I just haven’t heard those words in that combination out loud for a long, long time. Oh! How grateful I was that the girls were not with me. (I tried to have a conversation with Sophia about profanity the other day and even just trying to describe “the S word” made…

  • Uncategorized

    Are parachute pants next?

    Love love LOVE these leg warmers that my mom and sister sent the girls: But I’m really wondering if parachute pants, baseball shirts, and all things neon are coming next … (My friend Sherrie said some words of wisdom today:   “If you’re old enough to remember the style the last time it came around, you’re too old to WEAR IT this time around.” So true. So true.)  

  • Sin & Repentance

    Mercy and Care Are Not Always Enough

    I’ve had two rough nights of insomnia—so of course I’m completely fried. But my coauthor on Redeeming Church Conflicts (Dave Edling) is obviously not. He keeps writing these challenging, thoughtful blog posts that truly show why we started with hundreds of thousands of words for our book when I “interviewed” Dave on the topic and we began piecing together the manuscript—Man! That guy has a lot of experience on this topic (!). This is a sobering read, but encouraging too because (as always) Dave not only diagnoses the heart of many of our church conflicts, he also points us to our only hope in all of our conflicts: Mercy and…