Pasture-ized
"For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture." Psalm 95:7
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Come As You Are
There are no kids left at home to eat the ugly cupcakes or the broken cookies, so here I sit with a dozen chocolate cupcakes that got stuck to the pan. There's a meal at church tomorrow, and presentation matters, so I frosted and sprinkled the nice ones and packaged them up for the table. Then, I started contemplating the crooked and mangled leftovers. What have I taught my kids by leaving the "less than desirable" behind all of these years? What am I saying to my neighbors? Nothing good.
Monday, February 6, 2023
Isaiah 53
It's amazing what comes to mind years after the fact. 11th grade, I puked all over my desk and then sat there like "now what do I do?". You know, 11th grade, like "I can never come back to school ever again". Across the room was the kid with the reputation. Earrings, ripped t-shirt, chains hanging from his belt loops, labeled a "troublemaker". Anyway, didn't he get up and walk to the sink and bring a pile of paper towels right in the middle of the teacher's lecture. I will never forget him. In days when I struggle to find little bits of kindness in the world I remember that the person who was despised and rejected gave me the greatest gift that day.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Stand Fast
Exodus 13:17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
Saturday, November 26, 2022
Beauty For Ashes
People are running around the world in tshirts that say "Life is Good". They've got cute decorations in the house that say "Live. Laugh. Love". Liars. I want a tshirt that says "Life Is Hard", and my fridge magnets should say "Spit In The Face of Adversity" or some such nonsense.
Sunday, October 2, 2022
By Our LOVE
I usually avoid going into the supermarket in my scrubs because inevitably some stranger will ask me to look at their rash. How do they know I'm a nurse? It's the uniform. Navy blue scrubs anywhere near our hospital flags you as an RN or LPN, right? What would happen if we put people from 100 different careers into a room, asked them to put on what they wear to work everyday, and then tried to guess their occupation? I think you'd identify quite a few.
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Dem Bones
The Lord keeps bringing the valley of dry bones to mind. I'm no Old Testament scholar so I can't say Ezekiel is at the top of my list of things to think about in a day but it keeps coming back around. I do admit to finding myself encamped in a place called Weary these last months. I'm not sure how I got here but I have lots of friends in tents around me. Flags in patterns of grief, loss, disappointment, entrenched sin, fatigue, and more flutter in the wind around me. It's a quiet place, no one feels like talking. You could say it was a valley of dry bones.