When God starts chopping away at the branches of my life, I can’t say that I am full of joyful surrender. I typically resist the spiritual machete that starts swinging in my direction. I don’t want it. “God, you can keep your machete to yourself. I’ll happily live with overgrown branches and dead limbs.” But [...]
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Posted in Africa, Current Events, Faith, Grace, Life, Ministry, Remain, Spirit-Filled Life, Trust, missions on Aug 28th, 2020
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23
Hold on.
When I think of what it takes to hold on – to endure, to press on, to persevere – the word tenacious comes to mind.
Tenacity is defined by Merriam-Webster as: the quality or fact of being able to [...]
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“The Lord blesses his people with peace.” Psalm 29:11
Last month I wrote about endurance: staying in the race even when our bodies feel like they are going to give way and give out. Running all the way to the end…to the joy…fixing our eyes on Jesus…and crossing the glorious finish line at the end.
We are [...]
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Stay in the race.
You do not want to watch me run a mile. I promise. It’s painful for me to run a full mile, and I am confident that it would be equally painful for you to watch. My dad is a runner, my sister is a runner, and I am a wannabe runner. I [...]
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My natural instinct is to boast about my strengths. Show you the best of me. Be strong. Be independent. Impressive. Controlled.
But…there are days when my weaknesses get the best of me: insecurities resurface and create fear, a sleepless night with a sick child leaves me weary for the day, challenges before me look bigger than [...]
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“Where he leads me, I will follow.” – E.W. Blandly
Only a few weeks ago, messages from the American Embassy had become a regular and consistent presence in my inbox. Updates from the Malawi government were an ongoing alert in every social networking group I am a part of, and most of those messages appeared to [...]
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We just finished eating dinner. The kids are washing dishes and doing kitchen clean- up while Joel gives Jasper a much-needed bath. I’m sitting here in our living room taking a minute to collect my thoughts. It’s been a full day, even while quarantined on our compound. In between all the activities of the day, [...]
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“In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” [...]
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“Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.” I Chronicles 16:27
Transition is like watching the tide make its way in and out along the smooth sands of the ocean shore.
One minute all is calm. All is peaceful. The seas are friendly, relaxing, and smooth. There are no worries. The [...]
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It’s rainy season in Malawi. As I sit here, looking out at the quiet morning showers as they wash the lush, thick grasses, heavy hanging trees, and cactus plants in their soft dew-like downfall – nature enclosing me as though I were snuggled up safely in a canopy of green – I find my inner [...]
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