What do you call cheese that isn’t yours? Nacho Cheese. And why would we want someone else’s cheese? It’s called envy, and it’s been around since Lucifer lived in unsurpassed beauty as a member of the host of heaven. He was not satisfied with his position there. He not only wanted God’s cheese—He wanted to…
Tag: Christianity
Against the Odds—A Reflection on Gideon and Covid-19
I was talking on the phone to our accountant just as things with COVID-19 were starting to get serious. We were both sharing some of our concerns about how school and business closures will affect families and businesses. I shared the comfort that has been on my mind lately—the story of Gideon defeating the Midianites. …
A Quiet Submission
The words dropped like a glass vase shattering across the floor. All I could hear was the deafening tick-tock of the clock and the distant voices down the hallway. It had been a long, grueling, five months, and I was depleted of decisions and emotion. Every day I prayed for wisdom, clarity, and answers. Initial…
Making a Home
May the beauty of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17 “Your house reminds me of my grandma’s.” As a 22 year-old newlywed hosting friends for dinner, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the comment. The “house”…
All She Had
Wherever I go, I’m looking for words. As a kid, I used to flip past the “wild rumpus” pages in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are: though gorgeously illustrated, they have no words. I had no patience for pictures. (Richard Scarry’s pages, on the other hand, studded with words as they are, I could…
The Heart of Love
God allows us to experience the frailty of human love so we will appreciate the strength of His. C.S. Lewis I sighed as I picked up the dirty socks and put them in my boys’ hamper and closed their door for the night. Behind that door were two sweet boys who God was slowly transforming into…
A Second Chance for Love
Valentine’s Day is here and love is in the air. The allure of chocolate is everywhere! I’m definitely a fan of both. A little over a decade ago, however, I wasn’t sure love was an option for me anymore. I thought I might have to settle for chocolate. My first marriage of almost twenty-one years…
Loved Already
The 12-pound black-haired baby had ridden all night on a train through the vast Chinese countryside. She was giddy with exhaustion and passed serenely into my arms. I stared into her familiar eyes—eyes I had stared at for countless hours in grainy orphanage photographs. Who are you? I wondered. Of course, she was my daughter,…
First Love
“It was a flower,” writes Denise Levertov in the opening line of her poem “First Love.” She goes on to describe falling in love with a pink convolvulus at a tender age—“barely / old enough to ask and repeat its name.” It looked at me, I looked back, delight filled me as if I, not…
A Decade’s Worth of Spiritual Formation
Everyone’s spirits are shaped. A lot of the time we aren’t aware of it, or if we are, we feel like formation “just happens” as we pray, read our Bibles, and serve others. But there’s more! A decade of motherhood has formed my spirit profoundly, actively, and relentlessly. As 2010 opened, I had a 3-year-old,…
Anchored Voices 