They were both rich. One had known and kept all the commandments from his youth. The other made his living off of stealing from his neighbors. Jesus asked the “good” one to “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me,” Luke 18:22.… Read More A Scandalous Manger Scene
I binged. I restricted. I binged. I restricted. While this destructive pattern ruled my behavior for so long, there was a far more destructive pattern buried behind all the food and famine. I binged. I restricted His grace. I binged. I restricted His grace. I binged. I restricted His grace. Caught up in a frenzied… Read More Craving Confession
My hands fall into my lap as I finish playing, “I Surrender All” for the congregational “Hymn of Response”. We would always end the hymn singing the chorus acapella. As my voice joins the congregation, my heart is a mixture of hope and doubt. Why do I continue singing this song throughout my life not… Read More I Surrender All
Hearts long to be home. They yearn to belong. They want to be found. But things tend to get complicated quickly, when our hearts pull us in directions that promise all these things, and yet miserably fail to deliver, and we find ourselves on yet another goose chase. But the goose chase is good. For… Read More An Augustinian Insight on Sheep
She sat upon her pile of toys, like a dragon upon its throne. Dressed in the tattered rags of the daily-worn Rapunzel dress, she looked down with haughty eyes upon the eager, empty, energetic hands of her one-year-old sister; hands held out in the hope of participating in the joys of her sister’s carefully guarded… Read More A Lesson in My Daughter’s Library
Over breakfast this morning, two of my children were trying to come up with a strategic way of picking up household trash so that one would not do more than the other. I almost said something along the lines of, “What would Jesus do?” but instead I found myself telling a different story… “There once… Read More Our Hope Does not Lie in Hope Chests
I stayed outside. A glance through the partially opened door was enough. Enough to see painful images and feel an indescribable sorrow at my own hardness of heart. I wrote my last post with this most recent and last visit to our house on Brodrecht Road in mind. Nine years ago, Jeff brought us there,… Read More Houses of Pain and Mercy: A House on Brodrecht Road
“Who do you think Edmund is to remind us of, in the story of salvation? Satan?”. I was rather shocked by her suggestion. My daughter, Aletheia, who is reading C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe for school, was bent over a worksheet at the time, waiting to jot an answer down. This… Read More Narnia, Mrs. Beaver and Edmund
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all? Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most quarantined one of all? Supply whatever word you will. Supply whatever word that most quickly comes to mind. The image we see in the mirror is not what betrays us, it is rather the question we… Read More Mirror, Mirror
As Jeff prepares to head out to the Emergency Room, I find myself grasping for something. My heart is longing for hope. I know very well that my hope cannot be found in social distancing, for as much as I could control my kiddos and myself from any social contact, Jeff will continue to go… Read More Coronavirus, God’s Sovereignty, and the Gospel: The Hope of an ER Family
Every Square Inch Fitness 