Inscribed By God
STOP THE STRIVE! Striving. Oh, my. As I look back over my life, I see striving, striving, and more striving. Striving was pretty much how I operated until I learned the secret of surrender. It was a poignant moment. I was getting ready in the morning and having a lovely conversation with Jesus. It was […]
Do Apologies Have Languages Too? Most of us have heard of the five love languages, a breakthrough work pioneered by Dr. Gary Chapman. In his endeavor to help the rest of us tune into how to fill our loved ones’ love tank, he wrote multiple books, including the classic The Five Love Languages and special […]
KINDNESS: ALTRUISTIC? SELFISH? OR SELF-PERPETUATING? Every week I run a group in VRChat called LifeTalks. We talk about…well…life. Recently, I ran one talking about helping others and acts of kindness. As expected, the subject of the boomerang benefit came up. You know, the age-old argument Is kindness REALLY altriustic? Or are we only kind because […]
MAKING SPACE Deep breaths. A cup of coffee. Running my fingers over keys. A beautiful sunset followed by a starry sky. These are ways I make space in my life. Making space isn’t unproductive and isn’t the same thing as inactivity. Making space is intentional, and I would say critical. Why? When we don’t […]
A GENEROUS HEART So many times we think of generosity in terms of finances. We think about end of year donations and our favorite charities, ministries, or our local church. I know I did, and then I heard a recent teaching that challenged my narrow perspective on generosity. What does it look like to live […]
BREATHING GRACE Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! Beautiful song! Perhaps one of the most well-known songs of all time. But as I’ve come to learn more each year—and as I reflect back on this year in particular—His amazing grace really has saved me, and I’m not just talking […]
NEVER EXPECTED THIS Never did I ever think THIS would happen. If you’ve thought that, you’re not alone. Definitely not. Life has a way of throwing curve balls, splitters, and all-out fouls. And by foul, I don’t mean the kind of throw that gets you a free pass to first base. I mean, F-O-U-L. Unexpected. […]
INTERCESSION NOT ACCUSATION In the last post, I jibber-jabbered about accusations vs. intercession. So many times it’s easy to fall into and become entrapped in the soul realm of complaining when we are encountering a battle coming through a human agent. It’s easy, right? Someone launches an attack, maybe founded, maybe not. Maybe the attack […]
DON’T TAKE THE BAIT! In the last post, I invited you to join my mind meanderings on encouragement vs flattery. But not all messages, spoken or unspoken, are uplifting or even carry the appearance of being positive. Sometimes they’re harsh and accusatory. What happens when false accusations start to fly? Do we fly off the […]
THE FLATTERY COUNTERFEIT Wow, you look so nice today! Sounds like a compliment, right? Compliments are nice, I mean, who doesn’t like a little confidence booster here and there? But what if… It’s actually not a compliment? What if there was a different—hidden—agenda behind those sweet-sounding strings of words? What if they were instead— flattery? […]