Whew, I was Anne of Green Gables there for a bit, in the depths of despair. The world shut down, I moved to teach online school overnight, and an unwelcome fear and cynical hopelessness snuck up on me. As Anne says of despair, “It’s a very uncomfortable feeling indeed. When you try to eat a lump comes right up in… Read More
You Can Be Brave This Year
Last night I quit. “I decided I’m not going to be women’s ministry director,” I said to Matt, from my flopped position on the couch. “Okay,” he said. “Is there anything else you’d like to quit?” “Nah, that’s good for now,” I answered. I made this announcement days before hosting my first event at church as women’s ministry director. The… Read More
Step Away from Fear And Take Courage
Sorry honey, but when you said “King Sennacherib” in your sermon, Jayme was so hungry that she only heard “snackrib”, and I heard “saccharine”, which made me want an ice-cold soda made with real sugar. For the suggestion box: Serve snacks and beverages before church. But when you started to describe how Sennacherib talked trash to the Israelites, I forgot… Read More
Do The Meaningful Work You’re Afraid to Do
We were looking at one week with my brother-in-law, and I knew going in that it was going to test me in all of my weakest areas. So I’ll confess that the week before I reenacted Chernobyl for my husband. “This is going to be one big fail,” I cried. Because there would be a puppy, and I’m kind of… Read More
Do You Make This Mistake When You Pray?
It didn’t used to matter to me –whether the Awana kids said the question or if I did. I figured the important part of their handbook time on Wednesdays was if they could state the truth they were learning and then recite from memory the Bible verse to support that truth. But then I considered the point made by Paul… Read More
Afraid You’re Going to Mess up around People?
First day of school today, guys, and how could I not write about it? My new room is perfection, if I say so myself. Verb folders are prepared and waiting for unsuspecting freshmen. There’s a fake apple that looks for real sitting on my desk. Not sure what to wear, but I imagine the bed will be covered with a… Read More
How to Live in A Broken World
I published a segment of this post three years ago, but I have extended it and am sharing it again, because this message is on my heart. Pollyana is one of my favorite old movies. A young girl comes to a stuffy, crabby town and transforms it with her cheerful outlook and her ability to see good where no one… Read More
The Secret to Not Being Afraid
I suppose I get it from my dad, this practical side of me. Quite a few years ago he installed a hand wringer on the front of the house, so when he washed and dried the cars he could wring out the chamois. We all thought it was such a great piece of décor, as you can imagine. One summer… Read More
All Your Chains Broken
Dad told me about 50 times that I’d better watch out, because one day that brother of mine would be bigger than me and able to lay me low. Whatever, I said. Of course, dad didn’t know that a few decades later I would find myself crying my way through the Celtic Woman’s Oh, Holy Night. (Aren’t they lovely in… Read More
Are You Afraid To Follow God?
He had planned to go fishing. But while I loaded the dishwasher he poured coffee and said, What are you gonna do today? I said something about working on something. We could go kayaking, he said. I would love to go kayaking. Would you really give up fishing so we could do that? I said. The answer was yes, and… Read More