The warmth of the light shone through the glass and out into the bleakness of the frigid winter morning. Just inside the door she stood peering through the frosty glass at the empty street before her. Her tangled yellow hair tumbled over the hood of her bulky purple snowsuit. She had been waiting for him for a while; tiny pearls of sweat speckled her nose. She exhaled a warm breath onto the glass and wrote her name in sloppy cursive.
Read moreHe's Never Not Been Faithful
In the early hours of January 1, I sat alone on an empty Go train on my way into a shift at the hospital for work. It was just me, my reflection in the windows against the dark sky, and a journal I brought to pen my thoughts for the end of the year. I was in the beginning of what would be one of the most painful and emotionally draining seasons of my life and I had no idea. I wanted to wrap 2019 around with a neat little bow and lean forward with hopeful expectation into the year ahead, believing that 2020 would be the year everything came together for me. I penned in big letters the word faithfulness, which later came to be far more profound than I could have known in that moment.
Read moreThe Stripping Away of Distractions
Our daily routines, schedules, finances, school, work, etc. have all been changed. What we once took for granted or held close has shifted and, in some ways, this may be a good thing. As I have been reading through 1 and 2 Kings, it has been extremely evident to me that the peoples of Israel and Judah had both forsaken the one true God over and over again, in exchange for worthless, false gods.
Read moreSet Free!
Sin is not satisfied until it dominates and controls us! It’s typically our own sins from the past that remain unprocessed or the sins of others that have impacted us personally that we have left unaddressed that have the power to enslave us in the present.
Read moreDrinking Poison
I recently heard a statement that painted a vivid picture of what it can be like when we choose not to forgive. "When we make the decision not to forgive someone, it's like us drinking poison and expecting the one who offended us to die."
Read moreThe Benefit of the Doubt
I’ve always felt badly for Thomas. He is the disciple of Jesus whose claim to fame was his inability to believe the report of the other disciples. He said; “unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it (John 20:25b).
Read moreHow to Apologize Well!
All of us have observed apologies that just didn’t make the cut! They started out well but ended up feeling more like explanations for why a person feels right or justified. The worst apologies are the ones that quickly get off the rails and turn to blame…not self-blame…but blaming everything and everyone for wrongdoing but themselves. “I’m sorry” are two of the hardest words to say, they seem to be missing from our vocabulary!
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