What they need, not what we have, is what is needed
Give us a few links and we’ll complete the chain. Sketch a few shapes and we’ll fill in the picture. Hum a few bars and we’ll finish the song. Humans are designed to add the details so the story comes clearer. Even if it’s not the real story. Even if it’s not the right song or the intended picture. […]
Leave no doubt
What if we forget? What if we don’t get around to it? What if we’re afraid?…to tell them…until it’s too late. I live among the self-sufficient. Everybody’s “got this.” “I’m good,” they say. They don’t need my help, don’t entertain my suggestion, don’t want my advice. In fact, accepting help taints their ‘I can do […]
Where in Carnation is Christmas?
Twas the day after Christmas and all through the land the kids were glad to sleep in and the parents to sip their morning coffee and peruse the headlines. I’m always a bit melancholy on the day after Christmas. And that’s the way with anticipation fulfilled, right? Once you have it, what do you do with […]
Between Hope and Peace, watch out
Instead of an Advent wreath, I have an Advent box this year, courtesy of some very clever folks at my church who assembled the supplies and invited me to come make one. I wasn’t so sure about “branching out” (pardon the pun), but it’s growing on me (again). There’s an order to my candles. No […]
Nothing teaches you to wait like waiting
We’re not very good at waiting these days. It’s not our fault. The world has sped up. No time for sitting idle. We need to be productive, purposeful, proactive. Open slots don’t appear on my calendar or in my day. I actually have to schedule them. And then, I have to convince myself it is […]
Against All Odds
What lingers? Our hearts and senses are left to fend for themselves. To remember, but not with our minds exactly, more with our spirits. We no longer have the crutch of words or explanations or analysis. We can no longer touch or taste or see or hear. But we still feel. Something remains. What is […]
Where does hope live?
“The way things are reflects the will of God.” That’s the justification for ruling by divine right that I read in ancient texts. A sort of, well I am in power and since God is sovereign and everything works out the way God intends, God must have intended this. He put me in charge. Deal […]
Reaching Beyond
“God’s love reaches beyond my mistakes, my fears and my sin” I like that image, created by Elizabeth Veldboom, author of the Upper Room meditation for today. A love that reaches beyond boundaries, even those that are indeterminate, whose margins are poorly defined, perhaps invisible to the naked eye. But all things are possible for […]
Where life gets real, there is always hope
We lost a young man in our church last Tuesday afternoon. He died as the result of a tragic accident. Suddenly. On the day he graduated from 8th grade. He was a good kid but not perfect – an adventurous boy, a reliable friend, a brother you could count on, a loving son. He regularly […]
Lotta Life at Starbucks
I am sorry for eavesdropping But the tables are too close together to have private conversations at the Starbucks. And I was rattled by the one taking place at the table next to me. (No, Judy, not OUR Starbucks) A tall, well-dressed, salt and pepper haired, Caucasian man was seated across from a small, young Asian man, […]