The Psalmist cried out to God, “Before I was afflicted I went astray. But now I trust in Your Word.” (Psalms 119:67)  I certainly identify with that statement.  It was easy to wander before I found myself in this present affliction. Now my suffering renders me helpless and in a constant state of neediness before […]

Filed under: Christian Living

I have been asked to share some practical real-life ways that we can be “Jesus with skin” to believers who are experiencing intense suffering. Although I have no pat answers, this question has certainly been one that I have pondered. Just what kind of responses to our trial have been the most encouraging, the most […]

Filed under: Christian Living

I went to visit Joel today with my dad. Bless my precious mother, she offered to keep all three children. So off Dad and I drove at 5:45 this morning….into the grey of early dawn.  After two years of developing a routine that includes regular visits to the prison, the trip is fairly rote. Long […]

Tags: belong, Family, hope, pain
Filed under: Christian Living, Joy

Romans 8:35-39  speak of God’s incredible love for us. Paul contends that nothing can separate us from that love. If anyone had a platform for expressing this, it would be Paul. He had experienced so much adversity and tragedy in his years of serving Christ. Humanly speaking it would have been understandable for him to […]

Filed under: Christian Living

It is a natural tendency for us to try to help those who are grieving to feel better. Instead of weeping with those that weep, we try to get those that weep to laugh with us. Without meaning to, this trivializes the pain. I remember telling my family once, “When someone sees me being sorrowful […]

Tags: Family, Friends, Strength
Filed under: Christian Living, Forgiveness, Joy

I have long struggled with the idea that the way of suffering is the only true path to knowing God. That idea implies that God delights in our suffering, that He is working toward our pain! And that is simply not a Biblical concept of God. But unfortunately, popular culture, and even in some cases […]

Tags: Children, Family, Friends, Suffering
Filed under: Christian Living, Joy

There are two sides of love–the needy side and the giving side. My children teach me that it is OK to be needy. Sometimes our love is expressed in our neediness. Sometimes it is expressed in giving. The following story illustrates both sides: This morning as I sneaked back into the house after my jog, […]

Tags: Children, Family
Filed under: Christian Living

In the Bible when parents brought their children to Jesus and the disciples tried to turn them away, Jesus responded by saying, “No, don’t turn them away. The Kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”  He also exhorted His disciples to become like little children.  Just what did Jesus mean? I […]

Filed under: Christian Living

Shortly after Joel’s arrest, I watched the movie, “A Mighty Heart” which is based on the true story of the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl, a  journalist who was pursuing a story in Pakistan. The movie was about his wife’s response to this horrifying event. She was pregnant with their first child, when her […]

Filed under: Christian Living

I was snuggling with Roman in our favorite chair this morning. I told him how much I loved him, and how important he is in my life. He loves those words of affirmation. Even at three, he just eats them up. Then he looked at me and said, “I know, how ’bout we get up […]

Filed under: Christian Living