A video came across my newsfeed recently of an elephant calf being swept downstream while her herd was attempting to cross a river. She lost her footing and before anyone realized what was happening, the muddy water overtook her. You could barely see the top of her head poking above the stream as the waters rushed by. The current was too much for her; she would make slight progress toward
Creativity Defined
The creativity of God knows no limits. I believe that He is One who sees what we perceive to be impossible situations and says, “I can work with that.” I believe He is One who sees things that appear to be dead ends and says, “Well, that’s a start.” I believe He is One who looks on darkness and sees no problem…who sees hopelessness and announces a new beginning…who looks
When Hiding Doesn’t Work
God works in really funny ways. Many times the things He does seem arbitrary, and as we start off on whatever new path He has paved for us we think, “Well, this doesn’t make much sense….” We don’t always get to see why things work out the way they do. Sometimes, though, on down the road, it’s shown to us with a clarity that we can’t miss. Sometimes it’s a
The Cross I Bear
Throughout the season of Lent, I’ve felt led this year to reflect in depth on the things God has done in my life. Easter is about all of us – collectively, the Body of Christ – being rescued, but it’s too easy for us sometimes to remove the personal elements from the picture. It’s easy to speak of God saving US…to sing of God’s love for US…to rejoice in His
In Dependence: When The Chains Fall
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been asking God to bring to mind the things that make up the story of my journey with Him. Because truthfully, things seem monumental and unforgettable at the time, but before long the things we never wanted to forget have blended into the background of our histories. So I’ve been challenging myself to retrace my steps, celebrating again what God has done in my life.
The Sting of Memory
The human memory is a funny thing. We can’t remember where we put our keys or the name of that lady who sits in the next row at church every week, but random moments from our past are burned into our memory banks and never leave. Those memories might be important memories: the day we met our spouses, the birth of our children, the moment we received a piece of good (or
Because It’s Not A Solo Flight
Over the past week or so, I have spent several hours sitting on the floor of my home office begging God to wreck me. As I flipped through albums and shuffled through a trinket box of receipts and notes and random papers chronicling my semester abroad in college, I begged God to help me see the story He would tell of that time in my life. I desperately want to
When God Got My Attention
During my junior year of college, in the spring of 2002, I spent a semester studying in Spain. It was a practical choice for someone with an international studies/cultural studies/Spanish major. It made sense for someone who wanted to one day work for an international non-governmental organization. By all accounts, it was a logical move. But for me – an introverted homebody who had never been away from home by
For the Lack of a Plan
Today is Ash Wednesday. It’s Lent already, and I don’t have a plan. Some of you are appalled reading that. Some of you have known for awhile what you were going to do (or not do) during Lent. God spoke to you – you heard His voice – and now you’ve already begun your fast (or your new habit). If that’s you and you’re a blogger, you’ve probably had blog