Something had brushed her cheek. The flutter of a wing, though infinitesimal, had stopped her, a subtle movement through invisible lines. Without knowing it, an angel had crouched next to her, but had misjudged the expanse of his wings. He noticed when the little girl suddenly touched her skin there. The angel froze, and she…
Where Love Grows
I’m old enough to be his father. He just turned 30, and will soon be a father of four. We come from two very different places, rural and city, yet we have found a common crazy; we love teens enough, to go to the hard places to reach them. We met when he volunteered at a…
“He Sets A Table…”
In the immortal 23rd Psalm, David pens words that comfort believers, warm skeptics, and stop everyone who see’s beauty in poetic muscle. Did these strophes spill from his heart one night while he guarded his sheep? Did he hear the sound of an enemy to his flock, and stare down menacing red eyes in pitch…
A Note For Tired Parents
When my children were small, I used to rush home from whatever I was doing, and be greeted by little hands pawing for attention, and feet dancing around in circles, dizzy with anticipation. Playtime would be a tangle of limbs, and a chorus of laughter and giggles, curious fingers padding a receding hairline, and soft…
A Young Scientist Meets an Old Saint
I met him on a recent flight, and our light banter soon turned more serious. “Having a more rationale mind, how do you see faith in God playing a part?” I asked. “Not at all,” he confided. “If I can’t prove it, I don’t believe it.” Sebastian is a recent high school graduate, and one…
Raymond’s Race
I first met him in a crowded high school hallway. He was down on hands and knees trying to pick up his books, while a group of students were kicking them down the hall poking fun at him. Sadly, he was laughing right along with them. When he got back up, I noticed his right…
The Room With No Windows
The room had no windows. Easier to keep little eyes focused. When the door closed, a smiling face greeted me. Inside, I felt the weight of pending failure. I could not hide my frown. For as long as I remember, I have found it hard to bring words out of my mind into the open….
The Day I Lost My Son
“I can’t see KJ!” Moments before, we had arrived at the beach and gotten settled. I remember Ginnette saying, “the water looks rough today.” I grunted, not actually listening to her words, only the sound of her voice. I was already on my second page. But now her words lifted my head. She was standing,…
How the Mundane Works to Our Favor
It was a mundane run for groceries. Just a few essentials; Pasta, bananas, raspberry dark chocolate bar… The clerk seemed efficient, quiet and attentive. “How are you? she asked, grabbing the candy bar to scan. “Good.” I rifled through my wallet to find my card. Then I remembered, ‘practice the presence of people.’ I had…
PaPa Had the Best Laugh!
PaPa had the best laugh. Strong. Chesty. A roar of joy, which widened eyes, and turned heads. Filled a room. As family lore goes, PaPa had suffered a terrible loss, but never talked about it. He was fond of saying, however, ‘one laughs well, who has wept long.’ This is a story of laughter. PaPa’s farm…
Seven Runners…a true story
I want to invite your imagination to picture how God can unify the body of Christ to be the face of God. Seven runners lace up, and stretch out under a morning sun, talking easily, and laughing as they often do when getting ready to punish one another. Each has run close to, or under,…
Forty Days, Eighty prayers, One God, At a burning Bush
Discipline in the Christian life is tricky, because the fuel for it can fall on the side of either legalism, or infatuation. Legalism doesn’t end well, because the gas for the journey is our own determination. Infatuation is short lived, too, because it depends on bursts of inspiration, which hardly ever come long enough, or…
To Sir, with love 