I have some friends who are much better at being good friends than I am. You know the type: They text regularly just to let you know they’re thinking of you; they remember things about what’s going on in your life and ask you how those things are going; they’re the first to call when … Continue reading Love Keeps Tapping You on...
Amazing factoid about me: My husband and I have been married for (drumroll, please) almost 34 years! I know–we’re rockstars, right? We’ve beaten some HUGE odds, and we’re pretty darn proud of ourselves. And even better–we are still madly, sickenly in love with each other, more and more each day. Yes, really. We often get...
Warning: I’m going to give you an ear worm right now: “We all need somebody to le-e-ean on.” These words, so soulfully recorded by Bill Withers many decades ago, are well known all around the world–and still true today. Who is your go-to person (or people), the one(s) you lean on, count on, confide your … Continue reading...
One of the things I love most about teaching first graders is how excitable they are. I discovered very quickly that if I get excited–or make them think I’m really excited–about what I want to teach them, they jump right on board and instantly engage. And everything is a big deal to them, whether it’s … Continue...
I was once a pretty good strutter. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but in high school I dragged myself out of bed at 4:30 in the morning, not because I was taking a special class before school started, not because I was doing chores, not because I was praying for my family or my classmates, … Continue reading Love Doesn’t...
My husband and I start every Christmas season by watching the 1971 musical version of Scrooge, starring Albert Finney. Even though neither of us really likes musicals most of the time, this particular version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is so powerfully done that it sucked us in, and it’s become a yearly...
Love can drive us to do some crazy things sometimes. I love hearing stories about outrageous marriage proposals, people risking their lives to save loved ones, and regular Joes stepping in to help perfect strangers in an emergency. What makes us do these things? I would suggest that people who express this kind of outrageous …...
As a child of the 60’s, I grew up sans modern technology and everything that comes with it. I remember pretending to talk to my friends on devices like the ones we saw on Star Trek, the closest things to cell phones we’d seen. When I got older and attended the UW (Go Dawgs!), I … Continue reading Love That Calls You...
I teach first graders, and I love, love LOVE what I do! Besides being a very rewarding job, I have multiple opportunities every day to get closer to God as I navigate the complexities of being Christ-like in all situations, helping every individual student grow, and all the while feeling like I’m playing a rousing …...
Even if you’re not really a “churchy” person, you’ve probably heard the parable of the prodigal son in the Bible. You know, the story of the kid who demands his inheritance long before his dad is dying, leaves town, spends everything he has on partying and women, then has to settle for a job feeding …...
One of the greatest–yet simplest–lessons I ever learned about the love of Jesus came from a diaper-clad toddler. No joke. One sweltering summer day, my husband and I were sipping ice water with some colleagues as we tried to have a conversation above the roaring fans set up in our front room. This was during …...
Confession: Sometimes when I get really upset and can’t understand why terrible things are happening to me, I rant at God. I figure that if He knows everything, He already knows my thoughts, so I may as well say them out loud. I’m not saying I think it’s the right thing to do, I’m just … Continue reading...
I speak some Spanish, and I love the chance to practice with anyone I can. Usually these conversations involve long pauses for think time, a few confused looks when I say something completely ridiculous, and a bit of miming when words fail me. But there is one thing that speaks loud and clear, no matter … Continue reading Love...
Truth: Someone mistook me for Jesus once. And I emphasize: ONCE. One dark, chilly spring morning I woke up early to get my bearings before the day started. At the time, my husband and I were running an inner city ministry in Portland, OR, and not long after the rooster crowed, our revolving door ushered … Continue reading...
My husband and I ran an inner city ministry in Portland for at risk kids several years ago, and we love telling our stories of lives that were changed by the love of God during those years. People came to us with all kinds of reasons for needing help: mentoring, money, food, homework, bills, advice–but … Continue reading...
As I start every new school year, I try very hard to not discuss my class list with other teachers who are familiar with my individual students. It’s tempting to want to have a little inside information in order to mentally prepare and strategize, but I have the eternally optimistic view that kids who have … Continue...
Last summer I heard Chris Hodges, pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL, tell a great story about a girl he once met on a plane. Fresh from partying on Bourbon Street, she plunked herself down–along with her drink–right next to Chris, turned to him, and asked, “So, what do you do for … Continue...
I once listened to a speaker liken God’s disposition toward us to that of a boy who owned an ant farm. This boy had a particular fondness for his ants, and he spent every spare moment he could admiring them as they tirelessly performed the same mundane tasks day in and day out: moving dirt … Continue reading Love That...
We have a chocolate lab, and his name is Truman. Every day he reminds me of God’s relentless love for me. He has no idea he’s doing it, but I’m convinced God sent him to me, just in case I happen to be having a hard time remembering how obsessed my heavenly Father is with … Continue reading Relentless Love:...
I think Jesus would agree with the great prophets, the Beatles, when they coined the phrase, “All you need is love.” After all, Jesus said so Himself when someone asked Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matt. 22:36, ESV) He told the questioner: “You shall love the Lord your God...
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