We all long to be close to others. What if we were designed to be close with God? This episode describes this longing and how to make practical steps forward in our relationship with God.
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A friend was on a road trip with her son a few days ago when they passed this church, and her son Bo said, “Someday when I grow up, I want to fix broken churches.” It was a strangely odd, yet telling comment that tugged at my friend’s heart (and mine when I heard it). If only we could fix broken churches. If only we could fix broken people. If only we could fix our broken selves. Bo’s comment took me back to a few months ago night when I had the privilege of speaking (way too much–I’m sorry!) about…
Have you ever had something you wanted to say, but your words got in the way?
I think we’d all like to break our mirrors and throw them away at times. They help us and they hurt us. Ultimately, sometimes they control us. Recently I had the opportunity to talk to teenage girls about friend drama, or perhaps more accurately, girl drama. I hate it when people stereotype what girls are like, myself an outdoors woman who doesn’t own a tube of lipstick or a pair of high-heeled shoes. I have to admit however, that one thing I can’t deny is the way girls and women compare themselves to each other and the negative consequences that follow. I remember attending…
What if Donald Trump is elected as the next President of the United States? What if Hillary Clinton is elected as the next President of the United States? On November 8th I will go to the polls and vote, just as I always have since I came of age. Then I will be glad it’s over, this messy brawl of an American family feud that puts me in mind of the Hatfields and the McCoys. It seems a lot is at stake this time around. And so many issues seem in question regardless of the winner. We’ll all be glad it’s…
I’ve been more than a little distracted the past few weeks by this glorious autumn season. I’m accomplishing the urgent things, but I’ve slacked on my commitment to blog through our current study, ‘Experiencing God.’ Instead, I’ve been spending time outside, particularly on the family farm, and often in the woods. I’m totally nerding-out on fungi this year! There has never been a year I have noticed them more, or appreciated their beauty as I do now. Apparently this year is a banner year for fungi, as reported by yesterday’s Fort Wayne News Sentinel. Here are just a few of the pics I’ve taken over…
My favorite day of all time was August 9, 2014. Glacier National Park had been on my bucket list for many years, and we were there! I was with my family in the midst of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. My dream of hiking the Alps faded into the background at Glacier. I think I’ll be fine! One of my favorite things in life is exploring the great outdoors and experiencing all that God has made. I especially love the mountains. As I tell so many people, it’s not just about seeing the mountains the way some would do on…
I’ve been in a little bit of a funk for a few weeks, struggling with some decisions and change that came into my life. Maybe, if you’re like me, you struggle in times of change too. You wonder whether you’ve heard God right, wavering as to whether the current change is related to a lack of listening, or whether it is God’s way of moving you to the place He wants you. Last week I prayed a lot, asking God for direction with the decisions I have to make. I didn’t see any writing in the sky, but God continuously put gracious…
In a little over a month, our daughter Katy will leave to spend her fall semester studying in Italy. There she will complete classes for her Biblical Studies major, including studying the Italian Reformation in the land where it all took place. After that, she hopes to spend another semester in Germany and Switzerland during the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. I’m more than a little envious, but also flabbergasted at the opportunities God has given Katy in her young life. It’s way beyond me! My own story is that of a farm girl with great parents who struggled their entire lives to save the…
“If someone had written this year in the news as a novel, I would have ridiculed the plot as amateurishly unrealistic.” -Russell Moore Grieved? Helpless? Disgusted? Numb? What’s next? Massacres, shootings, hatred, terror, racism, murder, crazy politics, religious liberty in question, a nation that is divided on so many issues we can’t even name them anymore. It has indeed been quite a year. I was in the midst of writing these thoughts in response to ongoing tragedies such as the #AltonSterling shooting when I heard the news of the nightmare in Dallas. We are a nation in need of peace in a…
Tonight as I completed our mowing, the sun was hanging low in the sky and tucking itself away for the evening. Maybe you saw it too, and like me, you were treated to a glorious, changing display of color and movement, the skies adrift with white billowing clouds and a darkening background. The moon rose orange and full and smiled on me as I finished my work, and the sun did her final painting on the edge of each white billow, in a majestic array of pink, orange, and golden. Retiring the mower for the night, I noticed lightning in…