I sat alone in my dorm room, weeping and wondering what I would say if anyone found me and asked what was wrong. The truth would have been that I was upset because my companionship was rejected, and I didn’t feel that I had the right to be upset. I felt that I was simply […]
Posts in the devotional category:
Book Review: Freedom to Flourish
Recently I was gifted a copy of Freedom to Flourish by Elizabeth Garn in exchange for a review (honest of course). Elizabeth and I became friends through a group that connects women who have been to seminary. Our backgrounds and work are somewhat different but it is a joy to fellowship and especially to read […]
On Faith and Prayer
I have been having a number of conversations about faith lately. They all come to one center. I can’t live a life of faith in God and at the same time plan as if God might not take care of me. I have wrestled for most of my life with the concept of what it […]
By Faith and Not by Sight
It may be tempting, when seeing this title on a blind person’s blog, to think that this post will be about something inspirational based on life as a blind person. Blindness gives us great opportunities to live by faith since we cannot see, right? Certainly this is a great idea; but it is a misinterpretation […]
Walking on the Water of Grief
In Mt. 14:22-36, Jesus comes to the disciples walking on water. This is an amazing thing; for who can actually walk on water! Peter, ever the one who wants to be just like Jesus, wants to try this out. Jesus encourages him to go on and try; and Peter does. But of course he becomes […]
The Heart of Confession
Jesus knew that Peter would deny knowing him… Was it because Jesus had some amazingly prescient knowledge of what was to come? Or did he have wisdom about what humans do when in severe distress? He had been in other situations in which people’s family refused to tell the truth because it meant associating them […]
Doing Unto Others
I have been thinking about why the theology of doing unto others what you would have them do unto you does not work. Often we simply cannot imagine wanting someone to do unto us what others are asking that we do unto them. We have become so comfortable in our own situation that we have […]
Why Do We Rejoice?
Rejoice, rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. So often we rejoice not because of what God has promised, or who God is, but because of what God has done. But the Biblical story is filled with people who rejoiced in God’s promise and lived their trust in that promise, whether or not they […]
The Words We Speak
The words we speak hold the power of life and death–not only for those to whom we speak but for others who are affected by the ripples created by our words. Let us speak blessing, that we may bring life to all we touch and all who are touched by those we touch. Otherwise we […]
Crying Out
The foundational story for both Jews and Christians is the story of God delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The part of the story that we don’t often preach is that the deliverance took time and God was responding to the cries of a people in anguish. No one wants to be the people […]
Weeds in the Daisy Pot
I am a city girl. I don’t like to get dirty. Not one bit! I grew up on the Texas coast, but I hate the beach. And I know absolutely nothing about farm animals or plants. Several years ago, my mother introduced me to the joy of caring for potted flowers. I was struggling with […]
The Two Trees and the Everyday Fall
In Genesis 2-3, the story is told of the “fall of humankind”. It is one of the most popular stories in American culture. In particular, it is often used to put women in their perceived place. I have a new spin to put on it. There were many trees in the garden that bore good […]
Can We Carry the Cross
I ran across a post on Facebook today that mentioned people carrying crosses down the road and concluded with a reflection on how different the world would be if we lived each day with awareness of what it was like for Jesus to carry the cross. This reflection made me think about what it in […]
when forgiveness matters most
One of the greatest temptations when working through trauma–or any kind of situation involving hurt–is to hold on to anger as if it is my right to feel it. I have even read comments from some people via books and articles that it isn’t necessary to forgive the person who hurt you. After all, the […]
A Woman Named Salome
While doing my Easter Bible study, I came across a name I had never noticed before. It is the name of one of the women at the tomb. Two of the women were named Mary. That is something I have known for a long time. The third woman’s name is Salome, pronounced Sal-o-may. I decided […]
global friendships
This morning, I struggle to put my thoughts in words… I have a headache, and I am reading the Facebook feed of a friend from Israel. He posts each time there is a siren followed by multiple booms. While reading, I called to mind another friend with whom I corresponded in 2001. She shared with […]
Remember
Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, I have difficulty remembering to make my medical appointments. My husband has been reminding me all week that I have an appointment to make. Sometimes I have asked him to please remind me during the day–after all, I cannot make the appointment in the late evening. Sometimes, during […]
why I don’t say happy birthday Jesus
As I grow older, I become increasingly irritable when I see so much Americanization and dumbing down of holy things. My parents laugh when I express these signs of my age. But I hope that some of my general disquiet might be worth taking seriously. The current object of my disquiet is the phrase, “Happy […]
“since” vs. “because”
Greek words often have multiple meanings in English. So a clause may be translated either “If [blah blah blah]” or “since [blah blah blah]”. Of course, this distinction is very important when doing biblical translation. But I’m not translating right now. I’m just thinking about life… Think of the difference between saying, “if I am […]
a quote seen on Facebook
The following was posted on Facebook and spoke to me deeply: Go back to the place where, for the time being, the Lord has put you, where He has called you to live your life and do your work in all the trial and difficulty and suffering of it, and do not strain to get […]
meditation on a hymn
Come Thou Fount of every blessing Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy unchanging love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help […]
It Is Well
Hebrew… The gift that keeps on giving… I love it when that happens! Last week in church, we sang “It Is Well”–all three verses. Singing “My sin, not in part but the whole / Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,” I was deeply moved and thought back to my discussion […]
transgressions
Today in Hebrew, we read in Gen. 50 where Joseph’s brothers tell him that God commands him to “lift up the transgression of your brothers.” I mistranslated it; and this led my professor and me into a discussion of the fact that sacrifices could be offered for sins but not for transgressions (rebellions). The only […]
Through
When I saw what lay before me, “Lord,” I cried, “what will I do?” I thought He would just remove it, but He gently led me through. Without fire there’s no refining; without pain, no relief. Without flood there’s no rescue; without testing, no belief. –Gloria Gaither, “Through” This song always tears me up when […]
mosaics
It is the natural thing to want broken places in life to heal and be good as new. But more often than not, they remain broken but are made into beautiful places as they become part of a tapestry of things that get painted over and turned into the groundwork for positive character traits in […]