Simplifying… me

Adam and Eve.  Theirs was truly a life to be envied.  Can you imagine walking and talking with God in the cool of the day?  Can you imagine the lushness and beauty of the Garden of Eden?  What must it have been like to be fully exposed, naked, and unashamed?  Their relationship with God and [...]

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Last week an Ethiopian church planter was martyred, a wife and four children left without a husband and father.  A friend of mine miscarried her baby.  My grandfather passed away only a few days ago.  And we are all aware of the recent tragedy in Japan.  This has had me thinking about eternity.  Life after [...]

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Herodias wanted John the Baptist’s head on a platter.  She was an angry woman spurred on by the cancer of bitterness that permeated her entire being.  The NIV says she “nursed a grudge.”  She was not only offended by John’s confrontation of her sin, but she invested time and energy into nursing her wound and [...]

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Matthew 26 and 27 convey the story of Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion.  I was just reading these two chapters last week and was struck by all the chaos surrounding Christ in those final hours of his life.  An angry mob was screaming for his death.  His disciples scattered in fear and terror.  Peter, the rock, [...]

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I could hear the squeals and giggles traveling down the hallway this morning.  The kids were awake on their first day of Christmas break.  Joel offered to get up and take care of breakfast.  I started thinking about making the coffee.  Then, before we jumped up to start the day, we remembered that my parents [...]

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There are difficult seasons of life that God, in his sovereignty, allows us to walk through.  Loss, depression, fear, or sickness, they sneak up and shake the ground beneath us.  In moments of faith and clarity we speak beyond our circumstances and look to the hope that awaits us.  But sometimes those seasons last longer [...]

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A few weeks ago Jackson went missing.  We couldn’t find him anywhere.  He had wandered off.  An army of us went out looking for him, and with every step I took I found myself praying, screaming out his name, and wondering if this was it. If this would be the “big one”.  You know, the [...]

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Sometimes I want something new.  Sometimes I want lots of new somethings.  Sometimes I don’t even know why, there is no real necessity, but I just gotta have new stuff.
I’m not going to project my weaknesses onto all of you, so I’ll just assume that this is something that I alone struggle with.  (Although, something [...]

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For the past few weeks I’ve been working my way through Beth Moore’s Bible study Breaking Free.  With each new day of homework a new challenge is laid out before me.  Am I willing to delve deep – to the most inner parts of my heart and soul – allowing God to open up old [...]

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First, I just want to commend and acknowledge the working moms out there.  I have always had the utmost respect for you and all that you do, but now that I am working (part time, mind you), that respect has doubled…no…tripled!  How you do it all, I don’t know.  You are the true super heros, [...]

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