Epiphany is more than a sudden inspiration; it’s a season on the church calendar. Epiphany begins with a celebration of the arrival of the Wise Men as described in Matthew 2:1-12. We tend to picture the Wise Men (on top of camels, of course) following the light of the brightest star in the sky straight to Jesus. As with most things in …
I admit it, I have spent way too many hours of my life watching HGTV. I love house hunting shows, but I also love home renovation shows. I especially like it when they set out to renovate and restore an entire house. Of course, the best part of those shows is The Big Reveal. Have you noticed they always take a commercial …
There’s a popular song we hear every Advent called “Mary, Did You Know?” It was first released by a Christian recording artist in 1991. Since then it’s been recorded by a variety of musicians and has appeared on multiple Billboard charts. We don’t really know what Mary knew 2000+ years ago at the first Advent (at least, I don’t), but …
A new church year has begun! Advent is here! Advent means “coming” or “visit” and it’s the season when the church anticipates the birth of Jesus. In other words, this is a season dedicated to waiting. More than that, Advent is a season when we celebrate waiting. Waiting is not something I normally celebrate. When my family goes out to …
Some moments in life leave us speechless. Sometimes wonder, gratitude, disbelief, or grief seem to steal our words. There are times I want to pray, but there are no words. Other times the words come, but I know they are not enough. There are times when I am awe-struck by the beauty of creation or the gift of another day. There are …
We have a tradition in our family, our own catchphrase. In our home videos, we never say, “The End.” Instead, we always say “More to Come.” I don’t remember when it started, but it’s now ingrained in all of us. In fact, when the kids want me to stop-it-already-with-the-video they’ll smile and, sort of sarcastically, say “more to come, mommmmmm.” That’s my cue …
I want a GIANT poster that says, “There is a Big God and it’s NOT me.” This is the foundational truth at work in the Bible, from the very first sentence of the very first chapter. (Genesis 1:1) It’s the first of the Ten Commandments God speaks to the people of Moses. (Exodus 20:1-2) Jesus himself says it’s the first …
Are you a time traveler? No? Are you sure? Your emotions might be telling an altogether different story. Hear me out. I’ve never been good at science (especially the mathy parts) so I have no idea how actual time travel would work, even in theory, but I have noticed there are times my emotions drag me back … into the …
For a long time, I believed I was supposed to be content. I thought contentment meant maturing beyond my consumerism, greed, gluttony, and selfishness. I thought contentment was the natural outpouring of gratitude and the embodiment of joy. Contentment was so important to me, I tried to talk myself into it. I would mentally list all the amazingly wonderful parts …
For the first two weeks of school, the sign at the middle school near my house read, “School Starts at 3:25 am.” At first, I chuckled. By day four I wondered why they didn’t change it. By day six I was annoyed by the lingering typo. By day 10, I finally realized what was happening. Yep, it really took me …