I doubt it was her first ice cream cone because she seemed to know what to do. But it was her first ice cream cone with us. One summer Sunday evening. A moment captured through the lens of love. Imprinted in memory and stamped on our hearts. A delicious dive into delight. We walked down […]
Monday Meditation: Crazy Love in Northern Michigan
We are “up north” again. We’ve come to pick up my son’s car, left here since his honeymoon when he crashed it. (I still plan to post some wedding pictures. Here’s a peek.) We’ve decided to make a weekend out of it. Friday Night Live has taken over Front Street in Traverse City, and […]
Monday Meditation: My Biggest Idol
It entices me off the path, and I plunge through wet overgrowth for a closer look. Is this a good flower or a bad flower? All I know is that it’s pretty. Demands a close-up. You can’t always tell the inside by the outside. And the allure of the pretty can be dangerous. Solomon found […]
Monday Meditation: What if the Answer is Never?
American Idol. That’s our Sunday series right now. And I’ve pounded away at idols while I’ve taught on Hosea. Yesterday Bill talked about “me first.” The idol of I. Serving or being served. Having it my way. In my time. It’s all about me, you know. We even name stuff after ourselves like iPads and […]
Monday Meditation: Bitter Turned to Beauty
The pot brewed bitter. Hurt and anger bubbled. Until the mixture burst its bounds. Words popped, veiled in humor. But cork screwed heart hole, burrowed deep. And I could not retrieve it. Though I tried at once, the one who bears the wound preferred to embrace it a little longer. And would not speak the […]
Monday Meditation: The Middle of Midnight
A Roman-sealed stone could not hold Him. God unwrapped in Jesus. Grave clothes shed. Death defied. Prison break. Freed to free. Forever fourth day. ******** Plummeted in darkness. Possessed by my possessions. I follow phantom gods. Arms outstretched, He calls my name. Nails mend shredded heart. He rolls away the stones. And in the middle […]
Monday Meditation: Because the Father Turned His Face
He came on a colt. The fragrance of His coming preceded Him. A King bent on a peace mission. Hailed in the name of the Lord. But hearts would harden, spittle would fly, and fists would fall. Bone-and-metal-tipped strips would find their marks. He would be ripped apart like the temple curtain. Thorns would gash […]
Monday Meditation: Only God
I am wilted this morning. And the feelings. They are bleeding. The tears. They pool and leak. Trickle during praise, during prayer, during the breaking of the bread. I brush them away. Pull hair over cheeks. We’re talking about following the path. His path for us. The path of becoming. But often that path is […]
Monday Meditation: Drinking from the Fountain
We spend an hour in the pet store. We read. We compare. We finally decide. On a 60-dollar kitty water fountain. Well, 50 dollars with our discount. Platinum, it says. Because Geisha thinks she can only drink from the kitchen faucet. This morning I fill it up and hook it up and set it up […]
Monday Meditation: In the Being
I settle myself on the porch step with tea steaming. It’s cold, but snow continues to recede under determined sun. Chortles and trills and tweets and squawks and caws and peeps fill the air. Two geese honk and circle before they land on the pond. Stuff to be done stuffs my brain. But still I […]
