Flecks of pink and orange winked at us between the needles of shortleaf pine. Turning off the Blue Ridge Parkway, my husband geared down our car to ascend into a higher elevation. The December sun descended quickly, and by the time we located our last turn, darkness enveloped our Honda CRV. Night falls rapidly in the Smokies. Parking on the gravel drive, we …
Darkness has developed a new swagger. For a while, we pretended that hunkering down would protect us from harm, but fear, discouragement, and hopelessness has crept under the door. Despite my conviction that capitulating to fear is a darkened response, the struggle to live in power and love is real. Maintaining a sound mind isn’t as easy as I would …
This week, I’ve brought two friends with me for a special “dia-blog” post. Jane Bromley, editor at Senior Link magazine, and Traci Payne, freelance photographer and creator of ScripTpics are intercessors who continually teach me how to pray God’s heart. Join us as we chat. Me: “For the last several years, we have explored intercession together. Most recently, God helped …
As a piece of pottery, I’m certainly no beauty. All that remains is my thick spout attached to a broken handle and a jagged shard of terra cotta. But despite my rather sad appearance, my master prizes me as a symbol of hope, a reminder to believe in the impossible. I began as most earthenware does, at the hand of …
Holy Father, Thank You for being My Lamp in the darkness. As I look into my past, I notice Your guiding Hand has always been there, shining Light into every one of my dark situations (2 Samuel 22:29). Sometimes, my darkness is my own unwillingness to open my eyes to Your truth. But You are a God Who always seeks …
It was 2 a.m. when the fault line just miles away from our high-rise apartment building forced the ground to separate. As the violent jolting intensified, I jumped out of bed to find my family. Despite the inky darkness, I felt myself down the hall without seeing, yet hearing, smelling and groping past everything. It still remains one of the most terrifying 45-seconds of my life. …
I was twenty-years-old and spending my first summer in Asia. The sub-tropical heat forced me indoors, so I retreated to my third floor room to spend solitary time before the Word of God and a singular, rotary fan. All summer, a certain long-distance relationship had remained forefront in my mind. He was tall, dark and extremely cute, with a sense …
Let me introduce you to the Guilt Grub. Ravenous and relentless, the Guilt Grub chews on you whenever you think you have done something wrong, draining you of life-sap and energy. The amazing thing about the Guilt Grub is that he not only gnaws on you while you judge yourself; he can also eat …
Father, What is true revelation? In Greek, it is called “apokalypsis”: the laying bare, making naked, uncovering of that which was unknown. I desire for You to reveal Yourself to me. I’ve asked that the eyes of my heart would be enlightened and that I might know the mystery of Your will (Ephesians 1:18,9). But when You begin …
Paula was one of my best friends in college. We met because she needed a ride across town. You see, I had a little car. And Paula had her guide dog, Lena. I must admit that in the first few months of our friendship, Paula’s blindness was far more of a handicap for me than it was for …
