It’s lonely to walk a road almost no one among your acquaintance is walking or has ever walked. Easy to resent thoughtless words and actions that grate on your frayed nerves and plunge daggers into your empty heart. But my dad once walked a road I didn’t understand, and the gift of grace I believe […]
A Lesson Learned From My Dad’s Gift of Grace Read More »
There are two kinds of death. The kind where your heart stops, and the kind where your heart is all that hasn’t stopped. The first is obvious. Everyone knows when a body is dead. But few people know when your hope is dead, or that you’re virtually lying in the tomb next to it. Because
When You Think Your Hope is As Dead as Lazarus Read More »
In honor of the upcoming anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, here’s a hymn you might not be familiar with. David Smith, son of the Prophet, wrote The Unknown Grave for a father he never knew who, until 1928, lay in a grave only a handful of people ever knew about. I
“The Unknown Grave” Read More »
In the beginning, God created divine delay. Genesis doesn’t say that in so many words, but ever since, “Let there be light,” one thing or another has sat purposefully on hold. Hold the trees until day three, the fish and fowl until day five, man until day six. And all your hopes and dreams until…
Divine Delay: A Tale of Love That’s Older Than Time Read More »
Sometimes God’s delays feel like a game of keep-away. I’m like a pesky little kid making pathetic little jumps for my heart’s desires while he waves them just out of reach and taunts, “What’s the magic word?” Of course, this isn’t true. But it feels true. Wherever there was teasing in my family growing up,
Making Peace With God’s Delays Read More »
Anxiety, fear, depression, deprivation, danger, death. In the face of all such troubles and more, there are probably few words more remembered than these: the Lord is my Shepherd. Several years ago, my mom, my sister, and I went through Robert J. Morgan’s 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart. All six verses of
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Depending on the problem, meeting God halfway to the solution can be a daunting prospect. He can reach the middle in one mighty stride, but how many fumbling steps before we get there? How long before we’ve done enough to activate his end of the bargain? Maybe not as long as we think. Because maybe
Meeting God Halfway…Or Wherever He Meets You Read More »
I wasn’t fully aware of what my unanswered prayers had done to me until I went to Gettysburg. Like the metaphorical frog, I’d boiled slowly. Imperceptibly. But standing on Little Round Top, watching the sun set over that sacred ground and picturing the battle waged on it, I understood my battle like never before. December
Finding Peace in the Battle of Unanswered Prayers Read More »
What a crazy world we live in! Thank goodness it doesn’t belong to any man, woman, nation, government, or political agenda. This is my Father’s world! Being single allows plenty of time for travel, I’ll give it that. From the east coast to the west coast of both the United States and Canada, as far
“This Is My Father’s World” Read More »
Once there was a coach who told an unlikely bobsledder, “A gold medal is a wonderful thing, but if you’re not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.” If you haven’t seen Cool Runnings–well, I guess we know what you’re doing this weekend. It’s good for a laugh, a profound life lesson, and
Enough Without It: Keeping the Prize in Perspective Read More »
