Confidence

Confidence

Are there any literature buffs out there? I don’t mean novels, but the old-fashioned classic literature! Recently, I started reading Dante's Inferno. And I have to be honest: it's been a lot harder to read than I expected.

There are references I don't understand, characters I don't recognize, and historical and cultural details that I'm completely unfamiliar with. Even the footnotes, which are supposed to help me understand what I'm reading, sometimes introduce even more information that I need to understand! It would be easy to believe that I am not smart enough to read this book.

And it got me thinking:

The Line

The Line

Recently, a friend texted me, “How was your day?”

And I found myself listing all the things. All the details of the day. I did this, then went here, then had this conversation, then took care of that. But as I was typing, I realized—maybe that wasn’t what she was asking me.

I was telling her what I had done. But how was my day?

That made me pause. I had been moving from this to this to this, and now I was replaying it all for her. I could remember the events, the conversations, the things I had handled. But had I stopped to consider God in the midst of any of it?

Have you ever looked at a timeline?

The Closed Door

The Closed Door

I have been spending time in Genesis lately, and as I read His Word, God is showing me who He is and what He is doing. In Noah's time, there were a ton of people on earth. Not only that, but they lived a long time- their milestone birthdays were celebrated in centuries instead of decades.

Reading the account of the flood this week has given me a new awe and wonder for God.

Knit together

Knit together

Have you read Hebrews 3:13 lately? 

It hit different this past time I read it. Hebrews 3:13 calls for active, mutual support within the Christian community- every day!  Those of us who are followers of Christ are not expected to be ‘lone survivors’ but are commanded to spur one another on when the walk is difficult, when the hard is uncertain, and when we are weary and want to give up.   

And that got me thinking about a little outing I had with my parents this past weekend. We went to a knit shop.

Red Dust

Red Dust

We are broken people living in a broken world. And no matter how much we wish it weren't so, the evidence of our brokenness keeps showing up—over and over again. Pride, selfishness, impatience, and unkindness pile up like dust. A wandering heart and a desire to be seen, right, and in control.

We wipe it away by confessing it, repenting of it—and then, somehow, there it is again. The Red dust is real, but it is not permanent.

The red dust.

Follow

Follow

It was a sunny Saturday, the wind was blowing, and the ball fields were packed. The baseball tournament was well underway, and the crack of the bats and the cheers from the stands made it challenging to hear the person next to you. We were lugging our coolers, tents, chairs, and toys, and I was looking for the field number or the Nationals jerseys...