How often have you woken up in the morning with your thoughts carrying snippets of concern, crisis, or unpleasant responsibility? If you fall asleep dwelling on such things, restlessness or bothersome dreams haunt your night. When your daily life is squished in-between such musings, it’s hard to envision or experience
Do you ever pray without thinking about what you are saying? Recently, as I was praying the Lord’s Prayer, I was caught up short. Right after, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” the Lord interrupted me with, “Why don’t you want my will done?” What??? Of COURSE, I want
Unmet expectations are often the battleground where disappointment wrestles with our mental and emotional peace. I never planned on two miscarriages. Nor the sudden cut in pay when, as a family of eight, we really needed every penny that we earned. Breaking my foot and the resulting surgery really messed
I had an unusual experience the other day. I forgot where I set God. It was a crazy, mental image that planted itself in my brain. In my mind’s eye, I saw myself in an argument with someone that I’d just had an unpleasant conversation with. The person had been
You know that joy you experience when you have a win? When the project you’ve worked so hard on is a huge success? Or when one of your kids or friends successfully follow through on some advice you give them? Their win makes you proud. Their win becomes your win.
Do you ever wake up feeling lonely… like a big blanket drapped over your soul? Your brain tells you that you have family and friends. They love you. So why are you lonely? Your heart stares blankly at your brain and continues to wallow in feeling alone. I have those
Long time ago – back when we were first pastoring, our supervisor, Doc Wymore and his wife, Betty, came to visit one Sunday. This was a BIG deal, and I wanted to make a good impression: I cooked a traditional Sunday roast for our honored guests. Was it amazing? Uh…
Yesterday I spent part of my day giving my mental energy away. Yep, not good. And I should know better. Every time you or I get anxious, we are mentally trespassing in someone’s affairs. We’re meddling in either God’s business or someone else’s and using up mental energy we need
Aaaaack! When life gets messy, my mind goes crazy with cluttered thoughts and my emotions don’t play nice. Usually I’m not thinking anything about my legacy when that happens. I just want to survive. But how I handle life’s messes communicates a lot about my values and faith. People I
I have a life story I’m living out. So do you. Yet most of us aren’t even aware that we’re following a script that dictates our day. Each of us can pick 1 out of 4 scripts to base our life story and legacy on. But only one script really