Blog
From and about women who love Jesus and want to share His message through Scripture, everyday inspirations, and relatable stories.
There are lots of questions I’ve asked God as a result of being single for the entirety of my adult life.
When my now six-foot-two son was growing up, he experienced what the doctor called “growing pains.” During multiple appointments, the medical staff couldn’t prove that growing hurts and/or find physical concerns to explain the aching. However, my son’s leg pain was real. We did what we could to bring him relief but, sometimes, all we could do was comfort and encourage him while he . . . grew.
“I think I’ll bounce it off the van and into the basket,” my husband, David, joked as he aimed his disc. We were visiting western North Carolina, where rec center disc golf courses are ringed with blue mountains, gurgling streams, and lush nature.
“I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen” (Exodus 33:23).
Maybe you’ve seen inspirational quotes or merchandise along the lines of “You are enough.” It’s a saying that’s trending now—something people find encouraging.
A young boy was watching his mother make the family’s traditional holiday ham recipe. After noticing his mother slice off both ends of the ham before placing it in the pan, the son asked his mother why she removed part of the ham because it seemed wasteful.
When in 1995 my friend Amy Young moved to Chengdu, China, to teach English as a “Great Commission” cross-cultural worker, she wasn’t prepared for the proliferation in her new home of what she calls a “free-range animal.” On her first night in this new city, the head of her English department said, “Please mind the doors because there are many mice.” How true those words proved to be: mice nibbling the flowers next to her bed; mice running over her face as she slept; mice that she finally, with a frying pan, had to put out of their misery when they got caught in the sticky-paper trap.
Except for the Gospels, where Jesus is the living and breathing Word, God seems to reserve the power of His audible voice for critical moments. He breaks His silence only when it’s His true and clear Word that could muster the listener to turn, go, act, or change.
My daughter had not returned. It was late, so I stepped out the front door to watch and wait for her return. I spied her as she ambled down the street, reluctant to return home, it seemed, by her pace. I ran up the street to meet her. She flinched, unwilling to let me gather her into my arms, and truth be told, I flinched, too. She’d gone where she wasn’t supposed to and did what she’d known not to do.