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Daring to Hope in 2021
No one misses 2020: the ultimate year of loss for our generation. But as the chapter page turned to 2021, I wondered how I could muster up hope. So I decided to go back to the basics of spiritual renewal: creating and committing to a healthy rhythm of life. We all have different passions and interests, but the need for healthy rhythms remains universal.
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Approaching Advent
This Sunday, November 29 marks the beginning of the 2020 Advent season. Advent is a four-week period of praying, perhaps fasting, reading scripture and anticipating our Lord’s birth on Christmas Day. Similar to Lent, it allows time and a sacred space in a busy season to contemplate the coming of Christ and the miracle of the incarnation. The church has always seen Advent as a period of waiting – an intentional observance that helps us avoid what Stanley Grenz calls our culture’s “drive through Christmas” attitude. We throw ourselves into the frenzy of preparations for Christmas, but often fail miserably in taking time to prepare our hearts for the Lord’s…
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Walking in Circles
A wiser woman once told me that, much like the children of Israel, God sometimes leads us in circles. We learn and relearn life’s lessons as we walk through similar circumstances again and again. If you look at the geography, there wasn’t much room for the children of Israel to wander in the wilderness. Instead they trod the same paths over and over again for forty years. And amidst those circular trails, they learned dependence, obedience, and trust. I’m not suggesting that the circular seasons of life are punishment. Israel wandered in the wilderness because of their disobedience and unbelief. But I also know that God disciplines those he loves…
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Embracing a New Kind of New Year’s Resolution
It keeps coming up. Like a proverbial whisper, it speaks to me from a page of a book, from a snippet of a sermon, from a passing comment from a grocery store clerk. Be present, it says. Amidst a month that’s often marked by planning, strategizing, resolving, I’ve decided to do none of these things this year. No grandiose goals, no new year’s resolutions, no long-term plans. That's not to say I won't ever look at my calendar or think about the future. But this year, I refuse to be consumed with schedules, to-dos, or even dreams. As women who lead in our homes, offices, and churches, our lives…
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Seasons of Sacrifice
Eight days with junior high kids on a mission trip in South Carolina may not sound like a blast to you, but they were for me in more in so many ways. Love for mission trips are part of my heart, my DNA, how God created me. I love serving on mission and being on mission, especially internationally. My first mission trip was in 2001 while in seminary. I served for six weeks in Freiburg, Germany. I fell in love with international missions. It was so hard to even return to seminary and learn old and “dead” languages such as Greek and Hebrew when I could be learning…
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A Work in Progress
I love feeling finished. Don’t you? Crossing the finish line at the end of a race relieves the burning tension in our legs. Hitting “send” on a big work project releases the weight pressing down on our shoulders. Folding the last towel in our mound of laundry lets us breathe a sigh of relief. It feels good to finish things. Yet life is seldom so simple and tidy. Relationships require continual effort. Spiritual growth sprouts slowly. Personal change feels like an endless cycle, repeating itself in every new season. The deeper, richer parts of us are never finished—at least they won’t be completed in this life. So we sift through…
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Embrace Christmas With a Loving Heart!
As we approach Christmas let your heart be full of the love of Jesus. Embrace the only one who can bring love, joy, peace, and hope everyday of the year. This Christmas receive the love of Jesus who is God's gift to the world and the only reason to celebrate this season. O Come let us adore Him…
