Since June, every night as I lay down I’ve been tapping on my phone in a note I call my “nightly gratitude journal.” 🌕📓 Multiple years in a row of one hard place crashing into another made me numb and aloof to see the good sometimes. It’s especially hard when every cell in the body is screaming at you 24/7. Funny how many choose those times to wave Philippians 4 like a wand, believing the world view that positive thoughts magically make you better or give you an attitude adjustment. I’m...
almost 2 years ago • 2 min read
(THIRD time's a charm, right? I duly apologize for popping in your inbox a third time, today! Hopefully all broken links are truly fixed. :)) Whether you're new here or you've been with me from the beginning, I know I've been silent in this space for quite some time now. Maybe you wonder where I went, or haven't given it a passing thought. But when God goes silent, what do you think? The past few years, it seemed my world went dark. The lights all but snuffed out. A string of catastrophic...
almost 2 years ago • 4 min read
(I apologize for the 2nd email, but the first had broken links now fixed. :) Whether you're new here or you've been with me from the beginning, I know I've been silent in this space for quite some time now. Maybe you wonder where I went, or haven't given it a passing thought. But when God goes silent, what do you think? The past few years, it seemed my world went dark. The lights all but snuffed out. A string of catastrophic illnesses one on top of another left me a shell of the person I used...
almost 2 years ago • 4 min read
Whether you're new here or you've been with me from the beginning, I know I've been silent in this space for quite some time now. Maybe you wonder where I went, or haven't given it a passing thought. But when God goes silent, what do you think? The past few years, it seemed my world went dark. The lights all but snuffed out. A string of catastrophic illnesses one on top of another left me a shell of the person I used to be. For a year and a half, I could barely read, let alone write much. One...
almost 2 years ago • 4 min read
True Story: Imagine a successful attorney and real estate investor living in Chicago, a man with a great fortune. It is the year 1871. (Did that throw a curve ball to the picture in your head?) He worked hard to arrive at this place, and lived comfortably with his wife, four beloved daughters, and one precious son. Can you feel his happy condition? Enter the devastating Great Chicago Fire. It's deadly flames left 1 in 3 residents homeless after burning nearly four square miles of over 17,000...
over 3 years ago • 3 min read
Photo by Jennifer Sakata ᴡʜᴏ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇᴄᴏᴍᴇ ɪɴ 2023? Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road in front of me, I’m moving torward what I hope is a beautiful destination. Yet I must constantly look back through the mirrors of the car to be guided safely forward. I’m holding on to something most people want to let go of heading into the new year: I’m holding on to the hard things that happened in 2022, but NOT to dwell in the past. 2022 is the year absolutely nothing went as I expected. I do...
over 3 years ago • 4 min read
Here is the fourth and final prayer of this advent season! If your video does not play automatically, simply click the play button. The caption below it will make more sense after the 30-second prayer. "What's love got to do with it?" The very popular 80's song has me pondering a different question: What is creation’s story telling us about our God’s intent? There can only be one answer. As soon as I was old enough to hold a crayon, I was drawing. Then I fell in love with painting. When I...
almost 4 years ago • 6 min read
Here is the third prayer of this advent season! If your video does not play automatically, simply click the play button. The caption below it will make more sense after the 30-second prayer. How can we know the depth of joy unless we have experienced God reaching to the depth of our need? Let’s keep it simple this week. Chara is the Greek word for joy, essentially describing those who are glad. There has forever been the debate over the meaning of joy and its comparison to happiness. Both...
almost 4 years ago • 3 min read
Here is the second prayer of this advent season! If your video does not play automatically, simply click the play button. The caption below it will make more sense after the 30-second prayer. How do you define peace? There is unrest everywhere, but there is often an unrest in us. The beginning of it is from a deep, good desire to see something worked out: a family member well, a justice served, a conflict resolved, a relationship healed. But it can turn to worry and anxiety easily. What...
almost 4 years ago • 3 min read