A Story
“Self Control – What an Oxymoron!”
Writing on the topic of self-control is a bit funny to me. It is a place of great need in our family! It is one of those “broken record” issues. You know the phrases you feel like you say over and over again, and hopefully, just one day, you will see the fruit from such excruciating consistency. Unfortunately and honestly these “broken record” phrases are usually not said in a nice, calm voice full of patience and love, but, many times: “MAYA, ADA OR CARSON (depending on the day and I hope you can hear the tone in my words), you have lost it. Take a deep breath and find your center.” I don’t really know if they know what their center is. In the heat of the...
Read More“Let Me Fill the Cracks!”
You know those 10×10″ floor tiles, the ones that look really cool on kitchen floors? Well, they have mortar in between. In a wonderfully seasoned 50 year old pier and beam home, the mortar cracks and chips due to settling and shifting. As I sit in one of my most favorite places – my chair at our long farm house kitchen table, I’m struck by the brilliance of the moment: the bright sunshine, the cardinals feasting on breakfast, Maya, Ada, and Carson worshipping and creating as the Spirit guides them, and Karla and I sharing a cup of coffee and our vision and dreams for our family’s walk with Father. It’s a weighty discussion. It comes...
Read More“Post Riot Thoughts from the British Prime Minister on Family”
a quote from the British Prime Minister – “What the riots have shown is that this moral neutrality, this relativism – it’s not going to cut it anymore,” Cameron stressed. “Bad behavior has literally arrived on people’s doorsteps. And we can’t shy away from the truth anymore…If we want to have any hope of mending our broken society, family and parenting is where we’ve got to start.” Take hold today of the power and promise of all that you do as you lead your precious family! Today as we love them, we mend. As we engage in the conflict of “I want what I want when I want it,” we mend. Today, begi
Read MoreSay Yes – part 4 – “The Right Accessories for the Walking”
So, you might be done with this metaphor of mine, but I hope you will give me one more moment to talk about – “Walking in the Yes!” Again, the “Yes” that I am referring to is your response to Father God’s story – his pursuit of your heart, his gift of life, and his constant desire for a conversation. Have you “opened your door to him” (Romans 8)? If so, then I hope that you are “weaving and reaching” – weaving him in to your day to day by reaching out for him in prayer and conversation amidst the details of your day. And lest I ever let you forget – He has already said yes to you, and he endlessly reaches for you with his love. “I have...
Read MoreSay Yes – part 3 – “Dishes and Diapers But Still Walking!”
I have already shared with you in previous posts my thoughts about “Walking in the Yes!” Again, the “Yes” that I am referring to is your response to Father God’s story – his pursuit of your heart, his gift of life, and his constant desire for a conversation with you. One of the first steps in this relationship is our focus and attention in the midst of our day to day. Through the words of Romans 8, Bebo Norman and Brother Lawrence, I encouraged you to “open your door to him, cry out and lift your eyes to him, and abandon yourself in his hands.” And then I reminded you that he is already there – loving you! So, this month, I wanted to take you a...
Read MoreSay Yes – part 2 – “Walk in the Yes!”
I am still thinking about a quote by Henri Nouwen in his book Road to Daybreak. I wanted to talk more about this idea of “saying Yes!” If you recall, Nouwen wrote that – “Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to a hope based on God’s initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel” (105). This hope has all to do with Jesus and what he did on our behalf. Jesus “entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all . . . . Absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” Romans 8:1-3, 39 Many of you resonated with Nouwen’s words, Father...
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