Have you ever dreamed up a mission but wondered whether the idea came from God or from your own head? Obviously, discerning God’s voice correctly is essential to the Christian life. The task used to intimidate me, but through the years I have learned that discernment is not the stress-inducing puzzle I once thought it was. I have…
September is indecisive. Yesterday talked like fall; today is acting summer. The sun is warm; the air cool. This soft green green grass feels cold through my jeans. Bees and hummingbirds zip past butterflies in this sunny garden courtyard. Lasting petals are as bright as July. The garden smells like summer; but when I lift my…
Good morning, Autumn. This week, nights have progressed from air conditioned to windows open to windows shut. This morning the wood floor was cold beneath my feet and I donned my wool sweater. Good afternoon, Autumn. The yellow tomatoes taste like flowers. Sitting on our stoop after walking home from the farmers market, my 3-yr-old and I…
I look up from the full table, beyond the long white porch of Lauren’s rental cottage, at the changes on the lake. Before breakfast, savory crepes: eggs, bacon, spinach, tomato, cheese, salsa; sweet crepes: strawberries, bananas, nutella, home-whipped cream with four friends while our grad student husbands take Saturday midterms Cayuga lake was serenely still,…
“Son, look up into that huge dark sprawling 40-foot tree. Now look beyond the tree at the first star tonight. Did you know that that star is bigger than that tree?” “Nu-uh.” “Yah.” “Hey Heather, look at your tall dark sprawling problem that seems so huge. Now look beyond the problem at God. Didn’t you…
There’s something about gentle nourishing rain in a graveyard on a summer day. Especially this lush hillside 19th century cemetery. Ancient hemlock trees, mossy gravestones- many broken, deer wondering slow quiet and nibbling, crickets loud. I smell the earth and sense the life in this place, where I have spent and hour thinking, breathing, journaling about death…
1) Sunlight on water can be a thousand different kinds of beautiful. Even over the same body of water, this East Texas lake for instance, every morning sky reflects uniquely and changes by the minute. Every evening, I peer from this mezzanine-like porch through drooping cathedral limbs at the water and sky unable to look…
20 hours ago we were packing ice chests by candles light because this time yesterday a sudden, angry, lake-sloshing storm blew pine trees into power lines. I love East Texas thunderstorms… in different circumstances. The storm rolled in while my parents were buying 2+ days worth of groceries for the 16 guests coming to the…
This summer resembles last summer in that we move nearly weekly, but this season we are not family member hopping- we are church member hopping. Christopher’s 10-week internship just happens to be 30 miles from our last military duty station where we have many friends. After spending 3 weeks alone with a toddler and a…
From the front yard of our house of the week, we sense the local July 4 celebration flickering just below the horizon. Surrounded by rising fireflies below a clear sky that seldom looks so dome-like, I stand with my 4-mo-old on my hip. Nearby block parties smell as loud as they sound and I hope…
Does King’s College Chapel’s ceiling remind you of winter treetops on an unbending back road? Around here, where winter is long and tree-vaulted roads are common, I am reminded of cathedrals often. Lately, when I think of cathedrals I think of George Butrrick’s advice of prayer (1942). So every time I turn down a winter back road, naturally I feel an urge to pray… and drive…
As women, inside us is this longing- an insatiable need for validation, adoration, affirmation, affection, and devotion. And we are like, “Where is this coming from?” And where should we channel it? After we find comfort in the realization that we are not alone in our deep quiet longings, should we suppress them? Should we…
“Heather, I’m home. Oh, I forgot to return the library books. I’ll go back.” “No. I’ll go,” I snatched the keys from Chris’ hand mid stride. I love my children; I love our home, but I’ve been here for 28 hours straight. When since I got my driving permit have I jumped at an opportunity…
Coffee and watching petals fall with morning rain from courtyard tree.Sound, comforting.Site, lovely.Sentiment, sad but hopeful. In a few hours, our tree will no longer be full of bright blooms. While I am sad to see the change, I have hope because that tree will not be bare. It will turn a new and vibrant…
This woman’s testimony is powerful. So many people feel what she feels and are quiet. So many people do not know what she and others feel and choose ignorance over the discomfort of finding out. It’s hard to listen to, but it is important to hear.
Good men have a choice between ending demand quietly (not soliciting sex, but not talking about it either) and ending demand loudly. Speak out. Watch a short video about Shared Hope’s Defenders. http://sharedhope.org/join-the-cause/become-a-defender/
Most of us agree, it is good to buy ethically sourced products, but how?
I made a list of words that I love. I’m going to hang it on my cabinet to inspire me in the mornings- to motivate me to juice some veggies, do some yoga and spend some quiet time with the Lord.
mtvU made these beautifully done informative videos and a neat interactive website. Interact and watch here http://thebackstory.mtv.com/.
This week I saw the film rendition of one of my favorite musical plays and the musical play rendition of one of my favorite movies. Les Miserables and Once Christopher surprised me by taking me to see Once for my birthday yesterday! Standing room tickets are only $27.00 and I highly recommend them. The show…
Last night, my 14-month-old decided to close himself in my parent’s hall bathroom. Not a strange occurrence except that he also scooted the narrow glass-topped table slightly in front of the door. The table quickly became wedged between the door, doorstop and corner leaving us with only a 4 inch crack to watch him scream…
Reaching for carrot shoots and loose potatoes on farm stands, pointing at hopping finches, watching where the folk music is coming from and bobbing his head to the bass players beat while sharing a fresh lunch crepe with me in a courtyard farm market walking distance from one of America’s most beautiful college campuses. I…
May I cut and paste from BibleGateway.com? Psalm 10 2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises. 3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. 4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all…
I Get to be the One by JJ Heller You Make Me Believe in Love by JJ Heller Keep You Safe by JJ Heller Seeds by Brooke Fraser In My Arms by Plumb I Am by Jill Philips Best Day by Taylor Swift Don’t Ever Grow Up by Taylor Swift Lullaby by Dixie Chicks Godspeed…
Warm nutella in a delicate crepe leaves little to be desired. Especially when eaten in a 17th century structure next door to the Chateau Frontenac in the fortified city of Quebec on a crisp October day. On our first official family vacation, we visited Upstate New York, Vermont and Canada. Walking (and driving) through Francophone…
I often apply God’s encouraging words for Judah to His encouragement for victims of sex trafficking. Today, I read in Jeremiah 50:34, All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. Yet their Redeemer is strong… He will vigorously defend their cause. Jeremiah wrote about the Babylonian oppression of the Hebrews. Trafficking victims’ “captors” are…
To read Bob Makin’s September 28 article about Love True, the awesome organization I am helping found, click http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/Central-Jersey-based-Love-True-ministry-takes-aim-sex-trafficking Bob requested personal essays from each of Love True’s directors. Here is the blurb I wrote: Like many workers in the slavery-fighting community I am motivated by a righteous anger against injustice, but I was primarily…
Many of us live more restlessly than restfully. Although watching a sunset while lying in the grass or dangling our feet off a dock sounds romantic, most of us seldom take ourselves to those places. In real life, we tend to equate rest with surfing the internet after putting the kids to bed. After trial, error and…
After Blue Eyes had finished his banana and cheerio breakfast (we are trying to learn baby sign language, but currently he makes his sentiments known by trying to climb out of the high chair then slamming both hands on the tray “hum mm hum mm”), he went to play in the living room and I…