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The Value of Gratitude
For me, Thanksgiving has always announced the arrival of the Christmas Season. It’s like crossing a bridge from autumn into Christmas, and Thanksgiving is the grateful troll that guards the passage. On one side of the bridge everything is in a state of fading shades of orange and brown, but on the other side the world sparkles and glows with a little more glitz every year. Of course not everyone lives by my holiday timeline, so many have already had their trees up long enough for the ornaments to need dusting. Though even for those decorating well before my personal kick-off, Thanksgiving begins the anticipatory, month long celebration of the…
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The Villain and the Victim
One morning when Jesus sat teaching in the temple courts, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in the act of adultery. The scriptures don’t mention her name, where her partner was or how they discovered her sin. We’re told only this one detail, which according to the law of Moses, had the power to end her life at that moment. The crowd pressed Jesus emphatically for his response in the matter, though rather than fall into their web of deceit, Jesus does some mystery artwork on the floor and tells them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to…
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Straight Up and Over: navigating the faithful journey
In the movie Homeward Bound three family pets decide to make their way home after being left temporarily with a family friend. As they escape and set out for a mountain range in the distance, the old retriever, Shadow, tells his companions, home is straight up and over, assuring them they would be home by dark. How many of us can relate to their despair as they crested the ridge, and looked out over an expanse of mountains and wilderness, instead of their cozy, suburban neighborhood? Is it really so different when we believe God has called us to something and we set out on that adventure, expecting blue skies…
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Just a Taste
My little man is a big fruit eater and absolutely loves almost any kind of fruit, especially berries. As he’s getting older he now has the ability to invade the kitchen and search at will, frequently opening the refrigerator and climbing inside to find fruit. There may be blackberries from two weeks ago, with white fur growing on them, stuffed behind the bread and last night’s leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes, yet he’ll see them from three feet below. It was during one of these recent raids, he discovered my fresh bag of cranberries in the produce drawer and asked about them. I explained they were cranberries, but they weren’t…
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Only the Best
Tonight as I was feeding my littlest miss and cutting up her broccoli, I paused to consider what I was doing. I think most probably prefer the broccoli flower over the stem, though for me it goes beyond preference. I love broccoli, but I don’t want to eat broccoli stems and it’s crazy annoying to open a bag of broccoli only to see that half the bag is stems. I willingly pay more to avoid this disappointment. Yet, as I was cutting up broccoli for the miss, I was giving her all the flower and eating the stems myself. It’s what I always do. Sure it’s a trivial act of…
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Dating with Purpose (part 2)
In part one we opened the discussion on dating with a tip to allow God to bring resolution and healing before actively seeking a relationship. It may seem straightforward enough, but in our humanity we often want to rush through this crucial step, though it may set the stage for everything else in a relationship. The more emotionally healthy we are when we are out meeting people, the less likely we are to be drawn into unhealthy situations. There is no express formula for overcoming the pain of our past. God provides perfectly, individualized care when we choose to step into a life of obedience, and he’s always patient enough…
