-
Only Strong and Courageous
I cried when I hugged my daughter goodbye on the parking lot across the street from the dorm where she now lives. I didn’t care. I knew that moment would unleash the emotions I had bottled up all summer long. So I released it right there. Up to this point, I had watched my student take charge of her college checklist. I helped her unpack and I watched her settle into her new “home.” Honestly, it all felt so wrong but I knew in my heart God wanted this. So when I hugged her one last time, God said, “Let her go.” And I did…
-
Where is Your Faith?
He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him? Luke 8:25, (ESV), italics and bold mine. Ever lost your confidence in Christ—in His love, His power and promises—during a severe storm of life? Ever felt disoriented and you couldn’t figure out solutions? Instead you felt suffocated from the drowning waves of a bad storm that relentlessly came at you. We know crisis can come at any time. So we stay alert and watch carefully. Sometimes things seem pretty calm and then wham! You…
-
Friday Night Lights
In our house fall is fraught with sweltering Texas temperatures and scads of sunscreen, the smell of leather and ringing of cowbells, bright stadium lights and cheers recited to the beat of the band. We’re a football family, and fall is game time. Before marrying my husband, a high school football coach, I had no clue about Texas football. If you’re not from Texas, the game, fans, band, and tailgates can seem cultish. It’s an obsession around these parts—and that’s what makes it so wonderful. There’s something that fosters family when you spend Friday nights with the same cheering section over and over. It doesn’t matter if the game is…
-
My Shirley Temple Moment
Almost everyone I know has a Shirley Temple moment in his or her life. Whether it happened forcefully or unexpected, many of us have a story to tell that includes a Shirley Temple movie or song. I think that’s why most of us feel a sense of loss in her passing. My Shirley Temple moment lasted for just a little while, but the lesson I learned from it has persevered. I performed On the Good Ship Lollipop in a church talent show to raise money for something—I can’t remember what, but I know it involved a high-school trip. Anyway, right before taking the stage, I got sick and…
-
Said This Blogger to the People Everywhere
It’s Christmas. Celebrate the ultimate expression of love in the birth of God’s Son, Jesus. Celebrate His life—His power over death, for it is how we have salvation. It is how we have a relationship with God. Take in His grace. Embrace it and don’t let it go. Take the freedom you have in Christ and play. Enjoy your life and the gifts God has given you. Laugh so hard your sides hurt. And go ahead and cry if you want because of the unexplicable love He has for you. Yes, He loves you dearly. Stay in wonder. Can you imagine? The God-man born—given to us to…
-
A Touching Story
I called her “The Bloody Woman in Mark 5” for the longest time. I can think back to my childhood and remember hearing about her in Sunday school. I can even recall when my mind made the connection that her suffering involved bleeding — the vaginal kind. I grossed out and groaned in horror when I realized she suffered for twelve years. Whenever I read about her today, I still cringe. And I continue to feel sad when I see that she did all she could to make it better…instead it only got worse. Others rejected her since a bleeding woman was considered “unclean.” The last time I read about…
