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This Puzzle Called Life
Nobody likes discomfort, but life in a fallen world guarantees uncertainty. This puzzle we call life requires it. As James tells us, that God is not only with us “when (we) meet trails of various kinds” but will produce “steadfastness” eventually making us “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”, not one missing piece (James 1:2-4). May we be steadfast as we trust the promises of a God who carried our forefathers through perplexing times when that piece didn’t quite fit until the puzzle maker completes the scene for us in eternity. www.facebook.com/groups/connect.pca.women/permalink/504313166577008
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The Shocking Truth About Easter
It was 1996, and while the Olympic Games were being held in Atlanta, GA, I was teaching 40+ Chinese teenagers in a Soviet-style concrete building with live electric wires running down the halls. It was a hot, June day, and my eager students, usually so quiet I could hear a pin drop, did something that shocked me; they all burst out laughing, uncontrollably. They weren’t trying to be rude like American teens might, I have seen that in my years of teaching. They revered teachers, feared them, really. They were actually in a state of disbelief that caused them to disrupt, lose themselves. Why? What brought this about? That day…
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A Time to Mourn
The teacher in Ecclesiastes tells us there is “a time to mourn” (3:4). But in all reality, life can sometimes feel a lot more like one long mourning period. It seems the longer we live, the more we mourn.
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A Writer’s New Year Prayer
The wisdom to follow your plan for me Instead of the newest blogging recipe pushed out onto Facebook or Twitter The plan made by you to whom I am “Fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) and The plan that includes “hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11) Whether I ever publish my first book Or see my articles reach the world
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What do we need in a world that’s upside down? How about an upside down gospel?
It really is hard to believe. Who could have believed the barrage of change we have seen since last Christmas? Sure, we knew it might be a bit crazy with an unknown virus and a U.S. election. But a pandemic? Countries and states shutdown? Protests, violence and destruction? It’s still a bit much to take in. Not to mention, it’s not over. Much of the change we have experienced is here to say, for the foreseeable future anyway. Many of us still can’t to work, go to school, worship, or travel normally. Our lives have been greatly disrupted. The world is truly upside down. While a lot of us are…
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Why I am Rethinking my Hallmark Christmas Movie Addiction
I’ll admit, I am not exactly a fan of the catch phrase trend which includes “Keep Christ in Christmas” and other such sayings, but I am prayerfully asking myself what my responsibilities are during this sacred time of year. Lord, turn my heart towards you alone during this time of year. Please grant me the wisdom to speak about and value your birth and the gospel instead of promoting a faceless spirit or empty consumerism. May I continually respond as the shepherds did saying, “Let’s go the Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened . . . “ (Luke 2:15).
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Why I’m Not Leaving Education to Become a Blogger
I see it all the time. Ad after ad advertising blogging as an escape from the chain of the 9 to 5 job. It is amazing to me how many of these ads refer to teaching as the job they wanted to flee. How could they teach when they really didn’t enjoy it? It is hard for me to imagine. Now, I have been writing since I was a young girl. Stacks of journals holding my deepest secrets are proof it is truly a passion of mine, but one thing I have never wanted to escape is teaching. The days spent learning with teenagers is not a hindrance but an…
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I Came Across This Quote Today
Elisabeth Elliot famously said, “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances” (Keep a Quiet Heart, 20).
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The Cure for “Facebook Envy”: Be Thankful
If I admit it, I’ve always been this way-the coveting type. I envy others’ sense of style, popularity, fun personality, job, or life in general. You’d think I’d have outgrown this ridiculous habit. It’s not like I don’t know that there isn’t a single person who hasn’t been touched by this fallen world. Time and time again, I have idolized a person's life just to learn of a heart break they’ve endured, usually something much more tragic than I’ve never even come close to experiencing. Broken relationships, wayward children, contentious relationships, debt, discontentment-dysfunction is rampant, even in the lives of those who have the most convincing Facebook photos.
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Breathe of Life
The term “one of those days” doesn’t fit really. It hasn’t fit for 18 months now. In any case, I was more stressed than I’ve ever been, in ways I couldn’t quite identify. Our school district had announced that this school year would be “mask optional” only to reverse the decision 48 hours before opening day. Some people were angry, some happy, but a general feeling of discomfort was pervasive. It was as if we were waiting for the next last minute change to drop. Sure. As teachers, we were ready for whatever came, ready to engage young minds despite the subpar morale, but that didn’t change the fact that…