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Forced Sabbath
“Normal” used to mean a good night’s sleep of six hours and falling asleep during prayer. Normal meant unfolded laundry, unmade beds, and unfiled papers on my desk. Normal meant a twenty-minute dinner with my husband eating take-out in front of the TV. The receptionist called eight days ago to ask if I wished to reschedule my doctor’s appointment. Yes, please. The office lies in the heart of the city with the second highest confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. She asked if I’d like to reschedule for a time around Easter. I replied June or July. She laughed out loud. Strange. I hadn’t cracked a joke in two…
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Embracing Your Limits
Sometimes life reminds us of our limits. I had a humorous encounter with my limits years ago when a dear friend/mentor asked me for a favor. This woman had invested in my life in such meaningful ways I’d run through a wall for her if I could, so I eagerly jumped at the opportunity. My assignment was simple: drive her to the hospital for a minor surgery, listen to post-op care instructions from the nurse, and drive her back home. And here’s how things went south: 7:30am: Surgery begins. I take a few sips of horrific waiting room coffee, read the newspaper, and watch the Today Show. 8:15am: Surgery successful! …
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Is Working Less the Right Christian Response to Society’s Over-Work?
“I really try to put away my work phone on the weekends.” “I really want to be fully present with my family this weekend and not focused on work.” Twice in the past week, I’ve heard these phrases from well-meaning Christians. I’ve also said similar things myself lately. Yet the more I think about our approach to work, the more I realize that our thinking might be flawed. As American believers surrounded by a society focused on over-work, we want to stand out. We don’t want to be slaves to our jobs and servants to our paychecks. We want our faith to be central, reflected in all we do.…
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Burned Out on God: The Secret Struggle of A Seminary Student
Working with students has been one of the deepest joys of my life. This month, I am pleased to feature guest blogger Katie Rawlston, who shares from the heart about her journey through student burnout. “Katie, what do you do for fun?” The blank expression on my face revealed that I had no immediate answer. In a meeting I had requested with Dr. Michelle Pokorny, assistant director for Spiritual Formation (at DTS), I had zero words. As a sixth-year student in the Th.M. program and still twenty-plus hours from graduating, I only knew I had a problem: burnout. I also knew I needed help navigating the solution. I had neglected…
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SLOWING
The exit ramp for souls starved by activism is slowing. Slowing? How will I get anywhere if I do that? How will THE LIST get completed if I don’t work as quickly as I can? My high-energy, multitasking, activist self used to driving in the fast lane pushes back…slow down? My soul responds, “I’m dying in here…I need some rest; I need some space; I need to be replenished – if you don’t slow down, your list may never get completed.” Adelle Cahoun in The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook matches the desires we have with certain spiritual disciplines. Example: I may be totally disenchanted with always living every minute filled to…
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The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Part II)
“[I]f Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead…. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost” (1 Corinthians 15:14-18, NIV 1984). Once again we are examining the foundational cornerstone of Christianity: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Click here to read the first part of this study.) The resurrection of Jesus is central to all Christian belief, as…
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A New Normal: Finding Life amidst Chronic Illness
Four-and-a-half years ago an autoimmune condition slipped into my system. Like Troy’s Trojan horse, it unleashed a stealth attack. And the battle that ensued left me battling bouts of exhaustion and extreme fatigue. When our bodies don’t work like we want them to, we’re often left searching for a new normal. Yet as we embrace the journey, we learn to acknowledge our humanness, rest in God’s presence, and ultimately find new life. Listen Deeply: It requires attentiveness to acknowledge the changing needs within us. We may notice our need for more sleep, cravings for solitude, or longings for better health. And only as we pay attention, can we…
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23 Books Reviewed in 23 Minutes
“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition” – Henry Miller. Here is my exhaustive review of all but one of the books I read in 2014. Skim the list to see if something piques your interest. Peruse as you please. Skip what does not interest you. For my reading list reviews for the past few years click on any of the following: 2011, 2012, or 2013. Now here we go, set your timer to 23 minutes. Go! 1. “Save Me From Myself” subtitled “How I found God, quit…
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Fixing Busy!
Every Spring and Fall my wife and I gear up for our kid’s soccer season and by “gearing up” I mean we get our calendars out and start moving our life schedules around to accommodate practice and game schedules. The schedule is ultimately exhausting and it kicks our tails! My question is this: If you have kids who are in competitive, club or select sports or multiple sports – How do you do it? Here’s why I ask, because my wife and I have noticed that every soccer season, we experience a real lack of communication, family togetherness and intimacy. Perhaps it’s a combination of work and personal schedules that…
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Are You Taking Time Off?
Jesus said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). So they went away by themselves in a boat to some remote place (Mark 6:31–32). I just returned from the first two-week vacation that I’ve taken since I was a kid living with my parents. It came on the heels of finishing the latest issue of the magazine I edit, which has a fall theme devoted to “Rest.” I’ve conducted lots of interviews and read statistics on the subject lately, and I’ve been trying to apply what I’ve learned. We…
