If your life is anything like mine, you have 10 things pulling you in 10 different ways. Most days it feels like 50 little grappling hooks, determined to redirect your life. When I feel overwhelmed, I am drawn to retreat. For me, retreat might be a good book, a TV show, or solitaire (the game) […]
There is a flow when life works. When life doesn’t work, we live in that dark, difficult place of pain, anger, fear and depression. Then we wonder: What can I do to make life work? How can I get past these bad feelings and live again? Jesus understood what it is like to be in […]
In college, I faced a difficult decision. A church, two states away, called me to be their youth pastor. The pastor was excited to have me come, and had arranged to drive to my school and move me south. Quite suddenly, this road that I had been walking felt wrong. I will never know if […]
“The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and […]
The moment of truth, someone needs to step up to the plate – and you wait. Will someone else step up? Why not you? Then your mind goes into full throttle. What are your chances of making it happen? Will people follow you? Will they see your insecurities? Why not you? Then the perfect person […]
There are times in life when our schedule overwhelms our goals. I’m not talking about those times we make priority choices and sort of lose our way. I’m talking about when you wife (or husband) is in the hospital, or your kids are struggling and need your undivided attention. Many of us face those long […]
Sometimes the stress is so bad that when you close your door and try to focus on God, all you get is noise. Your neck is tense, your back feels knotted, and even though you’ve turned off every electronic, there is still noise – the noise in your mind. How do you pray when you […]
I was talking to my friend Jen Roach the other day, and she said the most interesting thing. Jen is an Anglican pastor. We were talking about communion. She said: “Of course, we would never be able to take communion without thinking of our baptism.” (that might not be a direct quote, but it is […]
One of the hardest things we do is to love people who are mean to us. Even if they aren’t mean, there are people who just ooze dislike. We know they don’t like us, and it is no fun to be around. Our natural reaction is to run away. Once, I worked in an office […]
This winter, I went on an adventure. I decided to meet with women in ministry in the Puget Sound area. One day, I got to sit with Krista Dunk. As I listened to Krista’s story, a marvelous outline arose. Krista has an amazing story. She is a wife and mom of two. She has interpreted […]