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This is our butterfly effect moment. Here’s what I mean by that. I was an imaginative child, always singing into a hairbrush, acting out a scene in a mirror or frolicking about like a princess fairy. But when my playtime theatrics became too raucous, my great grandmother’s stern warning was like a sharp tack piercing a balloon. “Get somewhere and sit down!” Her words were clear, incisive, and matter of fact. That simple command meant I was to quiet myself— immediately. Find myself a comfortable seat and be still. Anyone who was raised under old school parenting knows exactly what I mean. There was no negotiating.Read More →

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In: The Blessing of Living, Uncategorized
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Someday history will tell it. They will say they were on a mission to save lives. On this day, a team of international divers faced perilous conditions, with limited life-giving oxygen and adequate space to swim to rescue a youth soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand. Regardless of the outcome, they recognized someone needed a rescue. Selfless Samaritans fought to preserve life at the risk of losing their own. Their brave mission is proof of their humanity and the value they’ve placed on life. In dark, troubled waters with the odds stacked against them, they could still see the blessing in living, theRead More →

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In: Made Real
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The army of women who took to social media with the hashtag #MeToo. The recovering addict, who when asked how he was doing replied, “I’m medium to fair.” The girlfriend who called in the middle of the night to say she’d left her husband and found someone new. The coach who admits the team is ill-prepared and its playbook is outdated. Refreshingly honest— all of them. Their confessions like oxygen in the smog of noise and niceties. Lately, I have a newfound appreciation for these brief encounters with honesty. They are brave and something to behold at a time when being airbrushed and animated isRead More →

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In: Off the Path
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I was a mother. For 171 days, I loved on a child with special needs in hopes of adopting. Finally, I thought, a family. An answered prayer. Without the rose, then perhaps I was meant for the pearl. I joyfully busied myself with home cooked meals, play dates, swim lessons, bath times, and bedtime stories. Play therapy, timeouts, and countless temper tantrums later, love wasn’t enough, and there would be no adoption. The disappointment brings me to this blog entry and a question all believers at one time or another have asked. What happens when our plans fail? The short answer is: our resolve isRead More →

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In: Easter Sunday
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“Noooo! I don’t want to!” At four years old, she’s already fiercely independent. At four years old, my foster daughter has already known more loss, disappointment, and pain than my four decades of adulthood. So when her eyes glare at me with laser-sharp focus from under a furrowed brow, and a tantrum of tears meant to test my resolve (and my love), I think of Jesus. There are no words. Out of all the books I’ve read and Easter Sunday sermons I’ve heard, overflowing with comforting wisdom, prophetic prose, and life lessons, there are still no words adequate, big enough, deep enough to contain andRead More →