Your Heart’s Desire
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 NIV) I’ve always been vaguely troubled by Psalm 37:4. On the surface, it sounds amazing. God will give you what you most desire! However, I’ve wanted so many things and haven’t gotten them that the promise sounds hollow — it’s so clearly false that we dismiss it as something we can’t even understand. Of course, God’s children throughout the ages have had the same experience and tried to puzzle it out. I’ve heard several explanations for why it is that we don’t get things we want. One is that you must...
Read MoreMake the Feeling Last
“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.” (Song of Songs 8:6-7a NIV) I never tire of reading about the power of romantic love. People have done crazy things for love. Some are amazing and inspiring, like a husband visiting his wife of 50 years whose mind has forgotten him. Others are tragic and sickening, like a woman who killed her children because she thought it would help her relationship...
Read MoreLove Is Always Worth It
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 NIV) Before my son was born, a dear friend gave me a copy of Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions. Amidst ruminations about her impending motherhood, she writes, ‘‘The seventh and eighth grades were for me, and for every single good and interesting person I’ve ever known, what the writers of the Bible meant when they used the words hell and the pit.’’ While my experience in middle school (which started in sixth grade) was overall really not so bad, no one comes out of adolescence unscarred. As I...
Read MoreA Near Green Country
“…[W]e are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” ( 2 Peter 3:13 NIV) One of my favorite descriptions of the afterlife comes from the movie The Return of the King. When the battle seems most hopeless, Gandalf encourages Pippin with these words: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here… The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it. …White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.* While the images are meant to be comforting and inspiring, and they are, I think they...
Read MoreA Time for Every Purpose
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV) On Mother’s Day, Ali Hormann shared a list of the top ten things that she’s learned since she became a mother. The one that resonated most with me was #5: “You try to think back to what you did with all the free time you must have had before you had kids and nothing comes to mind.” I remember before I had kids feeling like I was really busy. Now that I work full time and share responsibility for an entirely dependent human being who wakes up at 7 AM no matter what time I went to bed — now I’m...
Read MoreA Birthday Means You Made It!
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b NIV) My son just turned one year old! I can’t believe it’s been a year. I remember holding the tiny, squalling baby the night he was born and feeling both completely in love and completely overwhelmed. Since then we’ve endured many sleepless nights, hours of rocking and shushing, and untold moments of joy and cuteness. Celebrating his birthday is a reminder of how far he’s come and we’ve come, and that everyone survived! Just as we are so glad that our son turned one, and yet are also anxious for him to keep growing...
Read MoreWhat Are You Doing About Newtown?
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5 NIV) On December 14, 2012, I saw a post on Facebook that said, “Don’t read the news. Hold your baby close.” Naturally I went to a news site to see what had happened, but I could barely read one article. It was too painful to imagine. That was the day Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut will never forget. After the outrage and grief, there was a predictable resurgence in questions about how we deal with guns and mental health and whether we should legislate...
Read MoreIt’s the End of the World … and I Feel Fine
“Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3b-4 NIV) Well, the date which the Mayans supposedly predicted would be the end of the world has come and gone, and we’re apparently still here. No one I knew actually thought the apocalypse was coming, but I think everyone probably stopped...
Read MoreSeeking God
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV) I recently found out that a friend of mine is no longer a Christian. After making it through high school, college, and early adulthood with his faith intact, he decided that it didn’t make sense anymore. I actually admire his dedication to searching out the truth – he was contemplating going overseas as a missionary, and he thought that if he would be putting people’s lives in danger...
Read More