• A Lesson from the Ant on Spiritual Diligence

    Every week after the church service, a sweet Nigerian lady in our congregation hands six dum-dum lollipops to my children.  I tuck them away for later so no one gets sticky on the walk to Sunday school, but evidenced by the groupings of ants I keep finding around our house, I guess I’ve neglected to pass out the dum-dums. Ants are fascinating creatures.  No wonder King Solomon told us to pay attention to them. “Go to the ant, O sluggard.  Consider her ways and be wise…” (Proverbs 6:6). Without anyone telling them what to do, ants work hard to gather food.  Somehow they can smell sugar through walls, carpet, diaper…

  • How to Worship When You’re in the Dark

    The following is a slight adaptation of a lesson I recently gave to our Women’s Bible Study on Psalm 88. We don’t typically introduce ourselves by sharing the darkest, most difficult pieces of our stories. So when we confront a lament in the Bible, written by a man we only know by the name Heman, we might be taken aback. At the very least, we’re forced to enter into his pain, to sit in the dark with him as he communicates with God. But I think more than that, some sort of response surfaces.  Some might wonder how a person could feel such intense grief.  Others can relate to the…

  • Pressing on during Advent: Our rhythms have a purpose

    My Advent reading yesterday morning took me back to road trips in the mid-1980’s when we would make the twelve hour drive in my dad’s beat up green Ford Granada with the peeling orange roof, to my grandparents’ house in Florida.  There was no air conditioning and a leather interior, so our legs would stick to the seats, our hair would blow in the wind, and conversation was almost impossible. I’m still not sure why my parents let us bring crayons on those trips; they always melted in between the seats and we got crayon bits under our fingernails when we tried to pry them free.  Lunch was either tuna…

  • When You Feel Like You’re Carrying the Weight of the World

      Little cries from the closet next to my bed have become a bit of an alarm clock, although it’s not yet fully morning.  For some reason this sixth baby has decided to chart her own little course and refuses to consistently sleep through the night.     Last Friday, it happened at 3:45, and after feeding her, I settled back under the covers to sleep until my actual alarm went off.  But no matter how hard I willed it to happen, sleep never came.   Summer is coming to an end.  There are school supplies to buy, clothes to sort, planners to fill, and appointments to make.  Meetings dot…

  • God’s Word: An Exquisite Feast for the Soul

        During the summer between my junior and senior years of college, I spent six weeks living with a missionary family in France.  It was my first time in Europe and I loved every moment. From the cobbled streets, to the bustling city, to the fields of lavender in the countryside, France was just as romantic and picturesque as I had imagined.  And the food, oh the food was irresistible. Almost every corner hosted a bakery or cafe, and on my walk to work each morning, I would stop and stare at the displays of pastries behind the counter. Smells of freshly baked bread, spits of lamb roasting for…

  • When You Don’t Want to Do the Next Right Thing

        Yesterday was one of those days in the summer where you feel like being at home with no agenda, but then you get antsy by mid-morning because you have no agenda.     There were plenty of things to do, mind you, I just didn’t feel like doing them.  After a little pep talk to myself, a whispered prayer, and an attitude adjustment, I started walking from room to room picking up toys and straightening shelves.  I checked in on the kids playing and mixed up a birthday cake.   As I went through the motions of my day, I realized that there have been a lot of…

  • What’s the Bread For?

        “What’s the bread for?”   This question from the little girl who, the day before, told me she hated going to church.  We were smashed together playing in the little inflatable pool out back. She wanted me to pretend with her animals, and so I set my book aside to engage with my daughter.  It’s not often I get one-on-one time with each child, so I’m learning to take advantage of these moments when they come.   In between conversations with the palace pets, we chatted about her first year at school, how she misses her teacher, and what day of the week it was.  I told her…

  • How To Live Victoriously When You Feel Defeated By Life

      For my fifth birthday, my parents allowed me to invite a few friends for a party at the fun new pizza place in town.  There was an arcade area with a variety of silly games, so we all got coins and could play to our heart’s content. My favorite was “Whack a Mole”, the one where you pick up a padded mallet and proceed to hit the heads of moles as they pop up through the holes on the board.  They surface so fast you can barely react quickly enough, and while you’re trying to knock one down, another one appears. The goal, of course is to make contact…

  • The Marathon of Motherhood: Persevere, Hope, & Turn Toward Heaven

      The cabinet gets filled at least once a month, and each time I stare at the shelves of diapers and pull-ups and wonder, “Is this the last time I’ll do this?  Are we getting close to the end?  When will this season be over?”  Nine years — and counting — that we’ve been changing diapers.  There was a two-month break in 2012, right before our third child was born, but other than that, the most consistent thing in my mothering has been the buying, changing, and disposing of diapers.  It’s a never-ending cycle and lately I’ve been feeling weary from the monotony–and let’s be real, the disgust–of changing multiple diapers…

  • The Startling Reality of Saying “Give Me Jesus”

      On the ledge above my kitchen sink sits a little postcard with the phrase: “In the morning when I rise, Give me Jesus” The phrase comes from an old song, which happens to be one of my favorites: In the morning when I rise In the morning when I rise In the morning when I rise, Give me Jesus. Give me Jesus Give me Jesus You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. And when I come to die Oh, and when I come to die When I come to die, Give me Jesus. Whenever we hear this song, I nudge my husband’s arm and remind him…