Blog
A while back I offered a survey to social media friends, asking for input on how they viewed the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. The responses were actually “both/and.” While every single response admitted to being underwhelmed at the fruit production in their lives, they also expressed awe and gratitude for the experience of looking back over their lives and identifying real, God-produced attributes that revealed His character in their lives.
“I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice . . .” I hummed and sang to myself, holding back my tears. I put one foot in front of the other, climbing the steps that were wedged between the library and Patterson Hall on the way across my college campus. “. . . to worship you, Oh my soul, rejoice . . .”
Lately I’ve been captured by the story of the woman at the well from John’s gospel (John 4:1–30, 39–42). You may know her as a shameful, fallen woman—the woman of many husbands now living in adultery who visits the well in the heat of the day to avoid the villagers’ looks of judgement and stifled whispers.
One of my favorite passages from the Bible is found in I Kings 19. Elijah fled into the wilderness because he was afraid—full of anxiety and panic—after he heard that Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, sought to take his life. Jezebel vowed to kill him in revenge for criticizing Ahab’s idolatrous worship of Baal and for the deaths of the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18).
There are lists on the internet of concerning anxiety-related behaviors to watch for in your children. I remember finding one of these lists after I learned that one of my kids had begun eating lunch—not in the cafeteria, but in the library by himself. My heart began pounding as I read the list, recognizing one after another behavior in my child. This experience sounded an alarm for me, and I immediately rolled up my sleeves and got busy.
“New year. New you!” The headlines of all the ads and stories and articles in my feed read . . . and then proceed to show me a fifteen-minute workout that will jumpstart my mornings, five ways to be more productive in 2025, and one simple trick to do each night to get younger looking skin. Wait! Should I be using that cream? Infusing more flax seed into my diet? Switch detergents?
There’s one sentence I will inevitably hear after every single event either of my kids participate in, no matter how big or small: “Can we go get dessert after to celebrate?”
“How many of you have a prodigal child?” I didn’t expect to hear Pastor Jim’s question in the final session of the conference. My husband and I and hundreds of other pastors and their wives had just spent three days at the Billy Graham Training Center learning ministry strategy, Bible study methods, and church growth tips. We’d gathered for one last meeting, one he’d promised would be an encouraging send off.
About twenty-five years ago, a small group sat together in a Sunday school class discussing how through Christ’s death and resurrection we could look forward to heaven.