As I arrive nearer and nearer to the heart of things — at least as close as I’m able to get right now — what lies at the center are these four things: Jesus, Aaron, gratitude, and strength. As I leave things behind — heavy things, things that have kept me trapped and exhausted for…
Relationships: What We Ate and Why It Matters
During this last season, one thing I remember more clearly than anything else is what we ate. The undercurrent of our life was dark and ragged, but my senses remember so much beauty, too, possibly the soul’s way of finding balance or hope. All those flavors and textures and smells are still embedded in my memories, and that feels like…
Summer Anxiety: Embrace the Bathing Suit
Laying Down My Anxiety Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? — Matthew 6:25 There is one tiny thing I don’t like about summer: I’m not wild about swimsuits. It’s…
Take This Bread
I haven’t baked bread since college, when I went through a brief but intense baguette phase, baking pan after pan of slim loaves, wrapping them in dish towels while they were still hot, cradling them like babies in the crook of my arm, arriving at friends’ houses and neighbors’ homes with still-warm, crusty, golden bread.…
Rejoice: Come Dance With Me
Be glad and rejoice with me. – Philippians 2:18 The discipline of celebration is changing my life, and I invite you into the same practice. Come tap dance with me on the fresh graves of apathy and cynicism, the creeping belief that this is all there is, and that God is no match for the wreckage of the world…
Present Over Perfect: On Disappointing People
Some people are very uncomfortable with the idea of disappointing anyone. They think that if you are kind, you’ll never disappoint anyone. They think that if you try hard enough, if you manage your time well enough, if you’re selfless enough, prayerful enough, godly enough, you’ll never disappoint anyone. I fear these people are headed for a rude awakening. I…
Communion: Awareness of Holiness
And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. — Luke 22:19 I believe that Jesus asked us to remember Him during the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine every time, every…
The Advent Alternative
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). — Matthew 1:22–23 Advent is about waiting, anticipating, yearning. Advent is the question, the pleading, and Christmas is the answer…
Present: How Not to Miss the Loveliness of Christmas
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. — Psalm 23:2-3 During Christmastime we find ourselves tempted to abandon Christlikeness in favor of overdoing. The season that centers around the silent, holy night, the simple baby, and the star quickly becomes the season in which…
Practicing True Thanksgiving
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 On a snowy night we hosted house church, and I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner. Even though I had done the meal part of Thanksgiving twice that year, I hadn’t yet done the…
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