SECOND-HAND JESUS

THREE LITTLE GIRLS Three little girls ages seven, eight and nine trekked together for over a mile through the city streets of the north-side of Chicago. In one hand they clutched a quarter for the offering plate, and in the other a dime for the candy store. They ventured weekly to Saint Bartholomew’s Church in … Read more

STEP RIGHT UP!

Step right up! Get your ticket to the ride that will give you loads of resilience, perseverance, trust, faith and incredible intimacy with God! Can you hear that carnival voice? It’s beckoning you to queue up for an experience that will make your relationships stronger, your spiritual eyes wiser, and your heart open to whatever … Read more

COURAGE

It was supposed to be a compliment, but I couldn’t disguise my furrowed brow. “You’re like interstitial fluid,” the conference attendee said.  Can you see my confusion? He went on to explain the medical definition, and then summed it up with, “You hold everything together.” HOLDING THINGS TOGETHER He exaggerated of course, as I was … Read more

SADNESS

Ripped and torn and scattered and broken; that is the landscape in the aftermath of the deadly tornado that left a swath of destruction from Nashville to Cookeville, TN. As if it decided to take a drive down Interstate 40, it is marked as a black horizontal dash on the map. That dash reflects so … Read more

FOLLOW

I had always pictured following Jesus as literally being behind Him; wanting to grab the tassel of His robe, and grateful for the dust that His sandals kicked up in my face. Sometimes I’d picture us walking side-by-side as He’d guide me. Proximity was everything, but, never, ever, ever, did I imagine I could follow face-to-face in the same way as a dance! That type of closeness was an affection I had never imagined.


CHANGE – (Part Two)

CHANGE YOUR MIND: Reshaping your thought-life is one of the most important ways to grow emotionally and spiritually. Reframing is one way to change your mind. It’s a skill that identifies, corrects, replaces and implements a new truth or better perspective. By changing your mind with God’s Word you can change yourself and the world for the better.

CHANGE – (Part One)

There is one constant in life and that one constant is change. Most importantly, our unchangeable God calls us to change.

GRACE SHIELD

A sharply delivered retort, much like a pointy arrow, came sailing my way. It was from a  friend who was in the midst of a technical issue, just hours before a women’s event we were part of. “That would have been a great idea a week ago,” she snapped, dismissing my solution, as she persisted … Read more

LEADERSHIP LESSONS – (Part One)

FAILING TO CARE She contemptuously flicked her thick, pointy thumb nail off her coffee-stained teeth and said, “You won by ONE VOTE.” I was in 7th grade and had just been elected as the Secretary of the Student Council. She was Mrs. Bennett, an elderly, austere teacher who oversaw the student leadership. She obviously wasn’t … Read more