The first time I heard “Where God guides—He provides,” was during the time I desperately wanted to own a home, so we wouldn’t have to keep wondering where we’d live. I was standing on someone’s deck in Tahoe and staring at an expansive, grassy lawn. Bordered by pine and aspen, the lawn sloped down into a strawberry garden. It was that typical tour you get when you visit people’s homes for the first time. This is how my husband always gives ours: My first thought (and I probably said it back then because I’m still only an orange belt in watching my mouth) was, “I wish God would guide me.” Granted, I’m sure financial reward isn’t the original intention click to continue reading…
Category: Living in Subtext
Sometimes reading between the lines isn’t intuitive—it’s making stuff up
No thanks, I’m full
I’m leaving for California today, and traveling this week, so I didn’t have time to record the post. Someone I love asked me if my morality lived inside me or if it was externally mandated. We were circling whether humanity had an innate sense of right and wrong—because sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. I think he leaned toward “yes,” so there was no excuse for pillaging the earth, the animals and your neighbor. But I waver. You never have to teach a child selfishness. You teach them what is allowed in your house. Most childhood choices toward morality are because of fear of punishment or in search of praise from guardians. Later, the same motivation comes from school, employers click to continue reading…
Worthy comments (that might not be worth mentioning)
Here are my promised thoughts regarding the book Worthy: Celebrating the Value of Women. I’d really like to know if you’ve read it or plan to. It’s appropriate that this post is on Independence Day because my word for 2022 is “Free.” I’m so thankful for God’s intent to set the captives free. Books like this can be instrumental. While the book isn’t specifically geared to married women, the authors highlight that God is the “helper” to Israel. I was aware of the comparison of woman as a helper for man to the Holy Spirit as a helper for the Church from a premarital discipleship resource. It’s one image of Christ that a married couple represents. The book made me click to continue reading…
Please wait, still (verbal) processing…
The day my daughter turned 18, she sought me out and asked breathlessly, “So, when does it happen?” I looked at her earnest face and asked what she meant. “I’ll know everything.” She wanted to know if all the confidence and knowledge adults had would just download into her brain. Or did she need to wait until she’d been 18 for 24 hours? Come to think of it, she might have had more smirk than earnestness in her smile. I have a friend who used an interesting phrase about teenagers. She calls it the stage where they “try on all different kinds of personalities.” I love the grace in that because we shouldn’t hold kids to all the things they click to continue reading…
The rain falls on my enemies and neighbors
We’ve been getting lots of rain lately. I don’t read a weather almanac, or keep a journal to compare years, but it seems like I remember getting excessive rain most every April. Maybe it’s just late this year. My grandma always mentioned the Farmer’s Almanac and in my child brain I thought of it like some sort of horoscope or divination. Come to find out it has weather predictions and planting dates based on tabular data and tide tables… My grandfather’s livelihood depended on frost forecasts and planting dates. I’m not as connected to the land as God intended, but I know we need the rain. I still understand it as a good thing, even though our house is a click to continue reading…