My friend Dora got a picture for me in prayer this week for my birthday. “I see you on a long, straight, and plain road. Keep walking, you are going the right direction.” Yep, that image resonated immediately. Some years just hold a lot more of the faithfulness in the mundane than others, and this […]
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This month I’ve talked with several different young adults struggling to figure out what to do with their lives– some facing the decision of what to do after high school (i.e. university? gap year? ministry year?) and some facing life after college (i.e. more schooling? get a real job? move home? travel?). We love to […]
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For the first decade of our marriage, we had many, many conflicts in the car as we were driving somewhere. I had a knack for slamming on the fake breaks and dramatically grabbing the dashboard. But apparently what was most annoying was my running commentary (I viewed them as helpful insights) on how we might […]
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Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast…” Joel 2:15-16 I remember the first time our oldest daughter received the imposition of the ashes on Ash Wednesday. She was less than a […]
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A few years ago, I heard my kids imitating me to their cousins. Apparently, my most common ‘mom’ phrase is, “Girls, we are going to turn over a new leaf!” Which was then energetically followed with a newly revised plan of action for chores, homework, laundry, family devotions, or whatever else was running awry in […]
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- February 03, 2018
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- control, disempowering others, gifting, growth, maturity, out of control, overused, self-awareness, strength untamed, strengths, strengths finder, strongholds, task orientation, unbridled strength
I’m one of those people who gets fixated in conflict on who is “right.” I can hold to principles, truth, and my perspective way past a healthy point. During one of the most tumultuous times in my marriage, my husband and I were at odds for an extended period of time. One of the things I kept demanding […]
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- January 17, 2018
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- "who's at fault?", confession, conflict, forgiveness, healthy conflict, master weaver, matted yarn, messy conflict, organizational conflict, personality differences, redemption, redemptive weavings, relational change, responsibility, sin, strongholds, systemic issues, taking responsibility, tangled yarn, threads, weaknesses
As we face a new year, I wonder how many of us made new year’s resolutions that are in some way dependent on others. So many of the places we long to grow are often connected to community: A healthier marriage. More intimacy with friends. Spirit infused decisions in our teams and churches. Adaptation to […]
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- January 06, 2018
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- cast seed, change, churches, cultural change, develop a thicker skin, families, forerunner, forgiveness, hard ground, harvesting, institutional racism, John the Baptist, marriages, missions organizations, New Years goals, organizational change, plough, plowing, schools, soil, sowing, systemic change, systems, victimhood, women in leadership, workplace
Last summer when we were back in the States, my mom had the rare opportunity to have all 7 of her grandchildren, her 3 daughters and their husbands together for one meal. No small feat with the conflicting work schedules and thriving social calendars of these kids. The ‘kids’ ranged from 16 to 24 years […]
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When my oldest daughter was thirteen, she was bantering with a group of boys at the park when one of them made a sexual joke and they all started pointing and laughing at her. I found her sobbing in the bathtub where she was washing herself over and over saying, “Why did they do that? […]
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Like many couples in full-time ministry, we spent the bulk of our 30’s completely maxed out. Alex was leading a care team for 400 missionaries; I was overseeing a women’s leadership initiative for our organization. He traveled. I traveled. We had three small kids, led a home church, participated in small group Bible studies, drove […]
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