A few years ago, there was a short-lived reality show called My New BFF, where young women competed for the privilege of being Paris Hilton’s “New Best Friend Forever”. It was a one-sided proposition where Paris the celebrity, auditioned those eager to earn the privilege of entering her world. The title of Friend came at a price, and I couldn’t help but think of the popularity contests in my high school that only fed teenage angst and left many of us feeling insecure and unsure of ourselves. But even as adults, friendship can still be Continue Reading
November 14, 2013 By
A Faith Test
I remember back to my grammar school days. (Yes, I can actually remember back that far.) Of course we studied math, science, English, and the other grade school subjects. We worked our way through homework assignments and hours of classroom instruction, reading the textbooks and absorbing information. Then at long last, there would come a day of reckoning. Test Day. That was the day we were put through our paces, our teachers eager to see how much knowledge we had retained. Our test results would help them determine if we were ready to go to Continue Reading
April 24, 2013 By
What, Me, Worry?
What does a girl do when she’s anxious? In my case, she bakes oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, settles down in front of her favorite chick flick and proceeds to eat the whole batch into oblivion. Chewy, sweet, slightly nutritious… escapism. There are so many things that set our nerves on edge these days. We worry about our children’s safety. We hear stories about people showing up at schools with shotguns and predators’ trolling the internet. Our schedules seem to be non-stop, finances and relational issues bog us down, and we torment Continue Reading
July 13, 2012 By
Tearing Down the Walls, Weeping to the Hymns, and Singing in the Rain
This week some walls came-a-tumblin’ down. Inside the sanctuary of my church, we began a three day tear down—after 30 years of non-stop use, our church home is being remodeled, reworked, and being called The Restoration Project. A few hundred of us showed up with tools, axes, gloves and elbow grease, and the demolition began. Crowbars creaked planks apart, axes were wielded with aplomb, and lighting fixtures came down; the people of my church earnestly tackled the demolition just as earnestly as they have tackled missions trips and singing with Continue Reading
May 6, 2009 By
Live Boldly in Tough Times
“We must meet our reverses boldly…. And not suffer them to frighten us. We shall act the play out, and live misfortune down” -David Copperfield I’m always looking for words or phrases that seem to grab my heart and articulate how I feel about a particular subject; for me, this line from the book David Copperfield seems to encapsulate the idea of perseverance. When you read the story of David Copperfield (which is more or less an autobiography of Charles Dickens with the names changed) you’ll see setback after setback being matched by Continue Reading
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