I yearn for you. I see you from a distance – not of My creation but of yours. And I so want to scoop you in My arms and smother you with love. When you’re ready. Because I’m patient. I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait as long as it takes…as long as it takes for you […]

So lately I’ve been thinking ahead to the Ragamuffin Retreat I’ll be attending. It’s put on by the folks who did Ragamuffin the movie and is designed to continue the conversation about the love of God, finding Him in our stories, and living life with reckless abandon. I’ve been drawn to it and I know […]

Sitting in a prison visit room recently visiting a friend I was struck by one thought: the power of a choice. Each of the men in that room ended up there because of a choice that was made at some point (an event). Each visitor was there because of a choice that was made at […]

Ever feel like you’re the odd one out? Looking at things from outside the window, yearning to be on the other side of the glass? Out of place? A cog in the wheel? A misfit? When I was in college there was a group of 5 of us that ran together and we called ourselves […]

A couple weeks ago I went to see a movie called Ragamuffin: The Story of Rich Mullins. http://ragamuffinthemovie.com But that title is a bit misleading….it’s not so much the story of Rich Mullins as it is the story of all of us. For those not familiar with Rich, he was an against the grain, […]

I’ve been thinking some lately about Mary & Martha. You probably remember the story….Jesus goes to hang out at their house and Martha gets ‘busy’ – serving, cleaning, taking care of the guests – and Mary sits. But she doesn’t just sit….she SITS AT THE FEET OF JESUS! That’s where Martha wanted to be….hanging out […]

Get comfortable, get a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and settle in. This is long. But SO worth it! Like many of you I have a number of Bibles on my bookshelf…various translations, some worn with broken bindings (the best kind of Bible), some study….but there’s one that is special and is the ‘grab […]

Milestones. We all have them in life. Those ‘defining moments.’ Those ‘at this moment in time something big happened in my life’ times. Could be good. Could be bad. Could be in-between. Maybe it’s a ‘stake in the ground’ moment. Maybe it’s a ‘from this moment forward my life has changed’ moment. Maybe it’s a […]

Sometimes things come up from behind and catch you off guard. It leaves you thinking ‘where did THAT come from?’ Sometimes it’s good; more often than not it seems bad. I talked last time about the conversations we have with ourselves. I went to a ferret show in August to visit my sister and won […]

Had a conversation with someone today about the conversations we have with ourselves. I don’t know about you but the conversations I can have with myself can get pretty wacked. The things we tell ourselves – and worse yet – the things we LISTEN to that we tell ourselves – have power to harm or […]

I read a great quote on a blog: “Maybe this is why Rich signed his autographs “Be Gods”? That’s where many of us get confused about a testimony. A testimony isn’t ours. That’s a biography. A testimony is Gods story through your story. Not the other way around.” (http://davidleoschultz.wordpress.com/) Pretty powerful thoughts. And my thoughts […]

8/10/13 I have to admit…the last few weeks have been very challenging for me. My family experienced 2 deaths in 4 days….a dear aunt and my former sister in law. Now before you scratch your head trying to figure out the ‘former sister in law’ part….she and my brother were married for a good deal […]

It seems only fitting that after experiencing a Personal Jerusalem that the next step of the journey leads to the tomb. I know that may sound morbid but stay with me Jesus knew He was going to the tomb. Actually, He saw BEYOND the tomb. I believe that vision is what kept Him going. “What?” […]

Easter this year will have a different meaning for me….a deeper meaning….a better ‘relation’ to it. What I’ve experienced over the last 4-6 weeks kept bringing me back to one thought: ‘is this what the apostles felt like during Holy Week?’ Let me try to explain. About 6 months ago I got word that someone […]

Wow. That’s all I know to say. The last month has been absolutely unbelievable. I can’t even begin to try to convey what’s happened. I have so many blog post ideas going through my mind but I think this one will just be ‘decompress’ so the good stuff can come out. Stay tuned for posts […]

Run to me. Run the race with perseverance. Throw off everything – EVERY THING – that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. Throw off – with forceful motion to gain greatest separation. Not just toss. Not just remove. THROW! Use EVERY OUNCE of your energy and put it behind that object – that […]

I have to be honest. For quite a while, now, holidays and I just haven’t gotten along. My family is fractured and spread out and I’ve just struggled w/ holidays ever since Mom & Dad divorced. Being the only one in my household to attend the church I do only magnifies it when I see […]

Well, I can certainly say the last couple of weeks have been QUITE the roller-coaster ride. There’s been enough change going on that a person could get whiplash watching the calendar and emotional barometer change, sometimes on an hour-by-hour basis. First it was my birthday. For a number of reasons I wasn’t feeling exactly celebrated […]

I’ve been thinking a LOT about God’s faithfulness lately. But I think I’m being taken to a new level – a deeper level. It goes like this: 1) God is faithful. 2) Even when I don’t understand it or like it. 3) Even when it makes absolutely no human sense. 4) Even when it seems […]

This has been quite the year with a lot of personal struggles and challenges. It started the first week of January and hasn’t let up yet. God speaks to me a lot through music. For a while in my foundational years it seemed every major turning point in my life came at a Christian rock […]