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 […]
anxiety
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 […]
Words tumble through our thinking to be a soliloquy, but you can change what you meditate on Day and Night when you change the song. You probably won’t hear this word spoken today, this week, or even this month. Soliloquy. But you will hear a soliloquy today, and you will […]
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. […]
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 […]
Every one of us needs someone to help us with our stress load, but the best person is someone who has been there, done that, got the scars to prove it —Jesus of the scars. Take the stress away. Essentially that’s what many of you and I pray for. We […]
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 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 […]
A feeling of being abandoned can be like a cold chill across the soul. But God is always at work, so we need to remind ourselves of this truth. I was recently at the help desk in a large store returning some items, and I noticed a small boy in […]
Does God hate Me or Does God love me? What you think about God will form the patterns of your thinking and life. Oh, that my heart might know a new reassurance. Recently in my conversations with people, I have been giving them three little phrases to meditate on and […]
Does God Hate me? Is God punishing me? Questions like these need gentle and grace-filled responses, so here are twelve questions that I would like to ask and explore. Sometimes, when I listen to people, I hear little comments that bring a sense of sadness to my heart. Some firmly […]
Our self-talk can keep us depressed and anxious, but we can learn new thinking tracks. Your rehearsal can change your mind. I always marvel at how the experts seem to effortlessly do something that I would difficult. My earliest experience of this was watching shearers shear our sheep on the […]
Others’ opinions about us can lead us to feel we are caged. Trapped, we grow in fear and worry, but recognizing them and boldly stepping out of the cage can bring us into new freedom. I could feel myself slipping into the dark place of despair again. As is my […]
You’re tired, drained, but you can’t find a simple way to restore. So maybe it’s time to cease and savor delight in the little moments. It had been a tough week—full-on giving out. People, work, tasks, energy-draining memories all want a piece of the energy pie. What was leftover were […]
The change felt good, but they were also afraid of who they might be becoming. Then they learned that they were not alone and to trust the train they were traveling on. It’s always scary when you don’t know what’s on the other side. Who am I becoming? What will […]
Are you tired of being the Scapegoat but don’t know how to stop it? Six key steps to stop being the dumping ground of other people’s rubbish. She felt like they were making her a scapegoat. They were saying she was responsible for all the terrible things that had happened. […]
Many of us carry secret questions, and we are hungry for answers, but we need someone safe. Someone secure in themselves yet vulnerable to listen well. When the pastor sermonized my personal story, I felt exposed. I was once in a small group in a church, where our Pastor […]
When you’re in a dark hole, it can feel like there is a loss of hope, but you can dig yourself out with some wisdom and encouragement. It was a hole that I had fallen into. I was in a deep dark hole where the sun didn’t seem to reach. […]