Not a day goes by that I don’t pray several times for help from God. Most of the time, it’s a quick prayer in the midst of sibling conflict between my two children. But in the morning, I usually do have time for more focussed, less desperate prayers. However, I have found that those short send-ups for patience, wisdom and grace in moments of desperation are still meaningful. I am learning these days that I cannot control my children or the outcome of my parenting. I can only do what I think is best at the time and pray for…
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I’m playing catch-up again tonight! Here’s a late post with the prompt from yesterday… The act of asking questions is the beginning of contemplation. When I contemplate, I ask questions of myself, of the world and of God. . . Questions that don’t always have to have an answer. . . Questions that make me think beyond my daily concerns. Contemplation is my soul searching, my mind seeking, my heart longing for something beyond myself. I ask life’s philosophical questions. I ask practical and pragmatic questions. I sit and think and wonder and listen. Contemplation requires asking. It also requires silence and time…
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I’m a day late posting this free-write because I just desperately needed a day off from pretty much everything yesterday! But here it is, regardless… This week my son and I were reading a passage in John Bunyan’s classic Pilgrim’s Progress for his school lessons. The part we were reading a conversation between the characters named “Talkative” and “Faithful.” We learned that Talkative liked to discuss ideas of faith and Christianity, but that in his hometown he was known as a hypocrite, doing all sorts of things that were definitely un-Christian. When Faithful confronted him with the truth of his actions as…
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As the wife of a music pastor, the words “praise and worship” carry a lot of connotations and ideas with them that I don’t have time to go into here. But one of the things about being involved in leading church music is this: Sometimes I have to praise God when I don’t feel like it. And I have to do it in front of people. Now, I know that may sound like I’m saying that I sometimes I’m being fake and just putting on a show. But no. Actually, the truth is that when I get up to sing with…
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I have been contemplating the idea of comfort often of late. There are many ways we seek comfort in life: comfort food, comfy clothes, a cozy blanket on the couch, hot tea on a chilly morning. And those are just examples of physical comfort. As modern Americans, we do not like to be uncomfortable. We like to be happy and healthy. And when we are uncomfortable we want to fix it. I’m not saying being comfortable is all bad. We need some level of peace and rest in life to recover. But this life is not free of pain, discomfort…