There’s no rule stating that a petite nose introducing itself into the top of one’s communion cup must interrupt a devotional frame of mind, but the mind must be stronger than mine to remain unperturbed. Fearful of a spill, I moved the cup away. Then came the gravelly whisper: “I’m just smellin’ it. It has…
Judas’ Confession and a Better High Priest
Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, ” What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of…
no other name
When my husband and I married, we became a family in possession of two Honda vehicles. We upsized one to a Honda van just before our second child, and I told myself that we were a Honda family, and we would remain so. Have you looked at the used car market lately? Within the past…
certain certainties
A small rubber boot confronted me from the road at the end of the driveway as I rolled our trash can to the curb early one morning. A boot belonging to a boy belonging to me, and so wildly out of place — dropped by a toddler the evening before. When, as a young adult,…
Five Minute Friday: be
B: the letter on the board for my pre-k kiddos this week, the beginning of books and also the beginning of boys. The biggest boy has begun to read, and leapt from beginner to actual reader, fingertip tracing the lines, whispering out the more complicated words, though we’ve only technically arrived at short e. He’s…
not a chance
Yesterday morning I sat in a coffee shop and wrote of God’s goodness in all the details of life. I wrote: “Did God have a moment of inattention that led to whatever thing is hurting you today? Not a chance! I must insist that this, even this, is kind design. He is good, thoroughly and…
Five Minute Friday (on Saturday): chance
Nearly nine years ago, in this coffee shop, I reintroduced myself to a friend of a friend, whom I’d met a few years before. It was one of those I-know-who-you-are-and-this-is-starting-to-feel-awkward things. Anyway, today he stayed home with our four boys to give me a little time on my own. There’s one view of our story…
God’s storm
It was our first tornado warning in our new house. Thunder always makes third-son cry. When it starts to rumble, we have a storm catechism of sorts: Who makes the thunder? God. Is God bigger than the thunder? Yes. Does God love you? Yes. Do you need to be afraid of thunder? No. You are…
The day of the Lord
Our ladies’ Bible study is walking through some Old Testament prophets, and it has fallen to my share to moderate the discussion on Zephaniah 1: judgment upon judgment. The Lord announces that He is coming to judge his unfaithful and idolatrous people, to sweep all things away on a day of such terror that mighty…
Home for Christmas
My five year old, though he’s never seen a white Christmas, started the season expecting snow for the holiday. Instead, the day surprised with a warmth unusual for even a Mississippi Christmas: the kind of breezy warmth that defined my own childhood Christmases in Florida. Now, 800 miles from where I used to run the…
Between Blue Rocks 