Fear can be like a shadow creeping up and over you, but what do you fear the most? Understanding what you fear the most can bring assurance. It was a simple wire bridge on a confidence course. Not very high, the three-wire bridge was a challenge for some and not […]
Spiritual Formation
226 posts
We want God to answer our prayer our way, but there is a larger story going on, so we wait to see the way God answers prayer. Most weekends, when my children were young, I made buns for lunch. First, I would make the bread dough in a breadmaker, then […]
When you’ve hit the brick wall, the question may arise. Why was I even born? But over time, new depth may come through. A new birth may evolve. I want you to imagine that you have a bungee cord tied around your waist. You are flying through the air, and […]
When you are living in the shadow, you may feel unseen, but that place of the hidden may be the best place to be, so let’s make the most of it. One of my favorite plants lives in the shadows. It can live in full sunlight but does best and […]
Like a steady stream, a diet of words can shape us in ways unintended, but what if we had someone feed us good words? Perhaps then the heart would find a new course to flow from. As she climbed a couple of lectern steps to read the passage, I wondered […]
God, I need a miracle, but perhaps I need something more, and that is what God offers me and you. Something of depth and hope. There are times in life when there is a cry from the heart for a miracle. It’s that diagnosis, the loss of a job, a […]
So many good things go unnoticed, but when we learn to take in the good and let it nourish, then our whole direction of a life can change. My neighbors have some small children. Yesterday, while walking in the garden, one of the little boys ran up to me to […]
They were always wrestling with comparisonitis, but that changed when they accepted themselves and became a peacemaker to their parts. It seemed they were always striving. I was wanting this and wanting that. They couldn’t make peace with the fact they weren’t meant to be superman or wonder woman. They […]
Life can be noisy, full of distraction, and leave you confused, but with the invite to listen, we can hear the whisper of ‘this is the way you should go.’ I have a lot of noise in my life. Not so much coming through my ears, but more so distractions. […]
There is a comfort zone in the familiar, but there is a calling to step out of the boat and find a little something to stand on. There’s always a call to step out of the boat. The other day I was cleaning some items off a pinboard and came […]
We face struggles, so we try to control the uncontrollable, but this brings even more stress. Better to stay in the zone of what we can control – ourselves. It was out of my control. The decision on how they would treat me was beyond my control. Have you ever […]
Grief is hard, but grieving alone can be a torment of anguish, so we sit with the broken; we are silent and Shiva to the tears. When my father cried loud and hard, I experienced a kind of solidarity in my grief. A child had died, and a funeral was […]
We are happy to accept good from God, but what about trouble? There is something deeper available when we center on clinging to God. As a gardener, I work in all kinds of weather. Rain, sun, and wind – both light and strong. In the extremes, I complain. The furnace […]
People can say some harsh things to us, but when someone close says ‘Curse God and Die’ you have to go to a deeper place of faith than they possibly have. I was watching him wilt. He was once like a flourishing plant, enjoying water and sun and growing and […]
It can be so easy to lose hope. But when we ask, ‘How is it with your soul?’ an opportunity opens to journey to know wellness. ‘How are you?’ they asked. My response was polite, and I said that I was okay. They repeated the question. They wanted to know […]
You have a story. You are a story. To receive a story is to listen to the white space between the words. I hear stories every day. You do too. But there are some stories I hear where I sense I am on sacred ground. It’s when you feel that […]
We need a weight loss program for the heart, but we can’t do it alone, so a vicar steps in and declares, ‘You are forgiven. Be at peace.’ I could feel a kind of weight leave my body. I had carried this tension and held this stress for so long […]
We want a behavior change, but it doesn’t seem to happen. However, it will happen with many changes in the mind (repentance). We always notice significant behavior change, don’t we? Yet, people who change dramatically are often given the stage and a microphone to trumpet the difference. I remember as […]
To demand or expect forgiveness is like a chess player trying to manipulate the board, but that’s not true repentance. Instead, repentance submits itself to the poetry of waiting, praying, and hoping. They thought they could use the Bible to manipulate and control. Verses were hurled, and they were told, […]
Accepting the consequences is a repentant heart saying ‘Yes’ to what has been done, praying for mercy, and possibly discovering grace. A few years ago I was caught speeding. I was going too fast. The police officer pulled me over and asked if I knew what speed I was traveling. […]