“So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” (1 Kings 3:9 NIV) A girl in the high school class I taught showed up one morning in a T-shirt that had Mickey Mouse emblazoned on the front. I paid it little attention. It never occurred to me that Mickey…
“Now the woman was left without either her young men or her husband” (Ruth 1:5 MSG). Widowed and bereft of her sons, Naomi found herself walking a shocking new path. She lived the story none of us would sign up for. I’m not widowed, nor have I outlived any of my children. But I have…
A funny conversation often occurs in my home when people come to visit. We’ll be standing in the kitchen, visiting or waiting for food and someone will glance at our fridge. “Um, why are you going to so many weddings?” they ask. Or, “Why are you invited to so many graduations this year? Your kids…
Like many other women I know, I consider myself a “part of the solution, not part of the problem” kind of woman. Our values include not complaining or pointing fingers. Not sitting back and whining while others do the heavy lifting to right wrongs or to address problems in our world. Jesus modeled a face-to-face,…
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and hoped no one would answer my knock. As the door opened in front of me, my heart beat faster. “Uh,” I said as I looked up into the eyes of the adult before me. I was in fourth grade. Every year, my Christian school…
When my son was learning to talk, he started coming to me, holding out his sippy cup and saying, “Minute? Minute?” I knew he often asked for a refill because he wanted attention, not because he was really thirsty. This was a little irritating when I was busy. Instead of immediately stopping what I was…