We live as exiles. We’re called to be pilgrims. I am journeying through Scripture, stopping at a few oases along the way, in order to contemplate our exile experience. I’ll also offer some helpful thoughts about how Christ can reshape that identity and reorient our journey so we live as pilgrims. To read earlier posts in the series, click here. * * * * * * * If there’s a phrase I don’t understand, it’s “moving on”. When someone says “Survivors... Read more
Yesterday, I heard one of the bravest confessions I’ve ever heard in public. The church we attend has a space in the service for people to share their own written prayers of lament or celebration. Most are heartfelt, and a couple have been quite remarkable. Last summer, an expression of pain from a mom whose baby died shortly after birth stuck echoed inside of me for days, and helped me understand how to pray for this young couple. During Sunday... Read more
Last Friday, I shared the news here I’d be attending school this fall. I’m so grateful for the words of encouragement and support! I have one additional piece of news to share. I just signed a contract with Beacon Hill Press to write a book with the working title Redeeming Regret: From Shackles To Shalom. Regret often imprisons women in the past, depletes their present, and disables their future, but Redeeming Regret will demonstrate how Christ can redeem and repurpose regrets for his glory... Read more
In the novella-length essay that closes Letters and Life: On Being A Writer, On Being A Christian (Crossway, 2012), author Bret Lott took me back to the day my mom died, and the shadowed valley of days that came after that. The emotional landscape of his relationship with his dad throughout his life was quite different than mine was with my mom, save this: Before he realized his father’s life was nearing an end, while everyone around him was... Read more
Back-to-school is in the air this month, and another generation of parents is trying to figure out where their kids will be learning to read, write, cipher and make baking soda-and-vinegar-fueled volcanoes this year. Public school, private school or home school? We home schooled our kids through high school. Our youngest graduated from our kitchen table nearly a decade ago, so I’ve had some time to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and why. We launched into our journey when... Read more
In 2012, I wrote a post for Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog entitled, “When Higher Education Is Neither: Why Should I Earn A Degree?” In it, I explained my lifestyle of learning, as well as the longstanding truce I’d made my my decision not to complete college: I found myself back on staff at an evangelical college and seminary when my youngest son finished high school. There it was again, a new variation of the Question, being asked of me by... Read more
We once sang about hoping to die before we got old, but quite a few of my fellow baby boomers have begun to sound like a cross between 1960s sitcom crank Granny Clampett and the 1980s SNL Church Lady when it comes to our kids’ generation. I’ve heard some in my age group lament that the millennials refuse to grow up. I’ve eavesdropped few remarks like, “Back when I was my son’s age, I had a decent job and a... Read more
Sarah Bessey, a gifted thirty-something writer, noted in her post last week at Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics blog that as she was pulling together research for an upcoming book, she discovered how many midlife women felt marginalized by church and culture alike. She noted that the church often mirrors culture in way that cause pain for those of a certain age: Sadly, perhaps we need to admit that we don’t honor age in our churches either, particularly for women. Once a... Read more
I don’t really resonate with examples of courage that include mountain climbing, wire walking or jumping out of airplanes. I do respect those who have the ability to silence their own common sense so they can choose to push beyond their own limits mentally and physically, but they do not inspire me to exercise my own courage muscles by white water rafting or skiing a double black diamond trail. I admire those who find themselves in impossible circumstances and survive... Read more
Click the link below to listen to (or download) the podcast of my conversation with the wonderful Martha Manikas-Foster on Family Life Radio’s Inside Out segment about some of what I learned from my ‘40+ And The Church‘ survey: http://www.fln.org/fln-news/podcasts/category/feature/inside-out/ Read more
Pilgrim's Road Trip
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