I’m trying to learn Spanish and so I added a parallel Spanish Bible to my Olive Tree app. My goal is to read through the New Testament in Spanish. Even though I don’t understand everything yet, it helps me learn. There was a repeated verb I didn’t recognize. Llenar: to fill up. It was intriguing to me how often I saw it. On one side, Jesus kept being “filled with the Spirit” and on the other side, the city or the leaders kept being “filled with rage.” It’s fun how different details jump out with multiple languages and versions. I originally downloaded the free Reina-Valera 1960, but since I have the vocabulary of a small child, I couldn’t understand much. click to continue reading…
Category: Beyond the Churchyard
Stories and testimonies of people stepping out of their comfort zone, and sometimes staying inside.
There’s a hole in my bucket list, dear Liza
I never made a bucket list. I don’t know if I ever will, but it isn’t because I don’t want to be prepared to die. Last year I celebrated American citizenship with a woman from Iraq by buying her lunch. She turned her palms up to pray for our meal. Her prayer was simple, “God, I open my hands to whatever you want to give me.” I stared at her instead of my bowl, I wasn’t sure I could eat. She had been through so many trials–she was still enduring ramifications while we shared our soup and a sandwich. Still, she was more open to whatever God wanted to give her than I was. Last night a friend told me click to continue reading…
Leaving Stuff Behind You
It gets easier to let go after the first motion of turning away. click to continue reading…
Las Vegas Atmosphere
Las Vegas is my husband’s least favorite city to travel on business. Last week, I joined him for a couple nights to make it suck less. (His words.) You can watch the off-the-strip recruiters look you, and then purposefully not offer the advertisements they offer to men who aren’t with their wives. The thing about a writer is–she’s always working, even if she isn’t writing much. And even though writing has been slow, I am plotting. I spent several hours the first day recording impressions and describing people walking down the strip while I drank the worst cup of drip coffee I’ve ever had. I already had plans to use the setting in the final book of my click to continue reading…
Heart of Petra Release Day
The second book in my Breaking Bonds Series releases today, October 28, 2014. I’m not naturally prone to worship. Music itself has never been anything I’ve sought out. From my earliest memories, I’ve been content to listen to whatever was playing. When I’m alone, I prefer the sound of silence. On road trips, everyone in my family will wear earphones while I’m usually comfortable with my thoughts. I’ve never had a singing voice either—I was told by a junior high choir teacher to sing quieter. If I try to clap along, I can throw anyone’s rhythm off. Though I can read music, it doesn’t live in me like it does for some people. So, corporate worship (singing with the whole click to continue reading…