I Keep Saying Thank You (for my marriage)
For you, Jack… I will love you for a thousand years A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 I haven’t written much about my marriage because, even after over 14 years, I am still mystified. Of all the blessings I have been given, Jack’s love stands alone as the greatest miracle of my life. He has loved me back from the brink of insanity, honoring his commitment to our marriage when he had every excuse to leave. (For our full story, see Our Story.) He believed in me when there was barely a Me to salvage. When I refused to receive love from God, God loved…
Humble Pie
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5:6 I think we forget something about humility. It’s–I know!–one of the gag words. No one wants a piece of humble pie served up so big and unavoidable and public (why does that always seem to be the case with me?) that there is no choice but to gulp it down as fast as possible. I think we forget that it’s not a bad thing. Mother Theresa said it best: “Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted…
The “S” Word
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 The time out chair sits in our front room: an old and tacked-leather wingback from one of the Nordstrom shoe departments my husband’s father managed years ago. Strong and water proof (very important during the potty training years), it won’t buckle or tip because a screaming toddle decides to jump up and down on it in defiance.…
The J Monster
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 I am always surprised when the J monster slithers under the back door of my heart. One moment I am enjoying a friendship, and the next my heart tightens and races as if it has been poisoned. I feel the beast climbing up my throat, threatening to choke out our conversation. I shake my head, trying to shake loose of its grip. I leave the moment in a fog, asking myself, Where did that come from? But once…
Caleb’s Different Spirit
But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Numbers 14:24 Please read Numbers 13 & 14 I can’t help but dedicate this to our Caleb, who is already staking his claim in the hills of heaven. I couldn’t be more proud to be your Mama, sweetheart. Godspeed. If you will look back with me over the past several weeks, the lesson to be learned in the wilderness was simple enough: trust God, obey God. The reason that the Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness is because they refused…
