Latest Posts

Not Anymore

My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. Lamentations 3:17 To be bereft is to be deprived of or lacking something. In particular, it describes the sadness and loneliness accompanying the death or departure of someone dear. We who follow Jesus have the peace that surpasses all understanding available to us through Christ, indeed (see Philippians 4:6-7). But loss can blot out the truth; grief can loom between us and that… Read More

Come Fill This Valley

This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. 2 Kings 3:16 God could have created the world’s surface flat and smooth; He could have made it impenetrable, transparent, polished, sleek, silky, solid. Yet He allowed the surface of the earth to be pliable, malleable, whippy, springy, bendy, impressionable. Some say ice age glaciers created the chasmic valleys of the earth today. Once-level land lies ruptured, wildflowers spilling over… Read More

Oh Good, Your Feet Stink Again!

Let them sacrifice thank offerings. Let them talk about what he has done as they sing with joy.  Psalm 107:22 I never thought I’d be thankful for stinky feet. That fateful evening, just before I left the house, he sat on the sofa stretched out long, poking me with his bare feet as he tried to persuade me to let him try a new recipe. Even as I pushed those stinky toes away, I loved… Read More

The Dirty Truth About Life and Death

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.  Genesis 2:7   As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed,  he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14 You and I are made of clay. Our origins are dust.… Read More

When it is an Act of Faith to Face the Day

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19   Jesus loves me, this I know For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak, but He is strong. Sometimes, with bruised hearts, weary bodies, and minds harried by the cares of life, it is an act of faith… Read More

Either Or

The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  Psalm 33:11   If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.  James 4:15 God is either sovereign, or He is not. There is no middle ground. Suffering taught me that. I learned it on a dark night when I wasn’t sure of the morning. When I wasn’t sure what this wild God of… Read More

Treasure These Things

For all mothers everywhere. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:19, NIV Among my most precious earthly possessions is an old trunk. Scratched and battered, it sits squat and square by my desk. On the front, just below the scuffed brass latches, is the hand-lettered name and address of one of my life-mentors. This trunk was all she carried with her almost a century ago when she… Read More

Hijab on my Heart

Yet if they “turned to the Lord” the veil would disappear. For the Lord to whom they could turn is the spirit of the new agreement, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, men’s souls are set free. But all of us who are Christians have no veils on our faces, but reflect like mirrors the glory of the Lord. We are transfigured by the Spirit of the Lord in ever-increasing splendour into his… Read More

Ember Keeper

This is from Audrey's Most Read Posts and has been updated from its original publication in October 2018. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." Isaiah 6:6-7 A golden fleece of evening sunlight spread over the gentle hills, inviting… Read More

Spoiled and Reworked… in the Potter’s Hand

For my friends at the Soul Care Institute, with gratitude And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Jeremiah 18:4 “We don’t get just one chance to learn something.” This is how Stephen W. Smith begins Day 3 in his transformational guide, 30 Days with the Potter. His words are helping me make sense… Read More