Tagged: Audrey Frank

This is an updated version of one of Audrey's most-read Christmas posts. For those who feel inadequate, you’ve got a friend in Mary. One Christmas in a land far from home, I was expecting our third child and my sense of smell was working overtime. Nauseated and homesick, my attitude was anything but joyful. I was pretty sure I was inadequate for the tasks in front of me and a sick pregnancy was not helping me feel courageous or motivated. Bundling up, I sought solace and fresh air outdoors where I could ruminate alone with my thoughts. The small dirt path behind our bungalow wound up and over a hill, inviting me to explore. I climbed slowly, avoiding the mud. Rounding a bend, I came… Read More

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  Isaiah 11:2 Calling all ye foolish, all ye confused... your camel is ready! For all who would be wisemen, Christmas is your holiday. At Christmastime, Wisdom and Knowledge came in person. Do you wish you had the wisdom to make the right decisions about your future, wisdom to know how you should respond to the throbbing pain of a broken world? Well, your wish came true at Christmastime. The wisemen rode over 700 miles on camels to meet Wisdom. To fall at His feet and worship Him. To give Him the best gifts… Read More

The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14 The holiday story is told of a little boy, face sticky with peppermint, cheeks punctuated with two clean streaks of tears caused by his big brother. The big boy wanted the little boy’s candy and made a grab for it. But the little boy held fast to his sweet, refusing to let go.  Big brother then had an idea. Punching the air with two fists, not much bigger than his opponents’, he offered to duke it out. The winner gets the candy. But little brother, smaller though he was, had bigger determination. Nope. I’m holding on to mine. Go find your own. Mom intervened, little brother got to keep his candy, and… Read More

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 marvelous, available power, for a time. Like a sudden blackout dashing us into complete darkness, unexpected tragedy and loss can temporarily blind us from the light.  The blindness may be artificial, it may be temporary, but it is real. May we have grace for ourselves and others in the family… Read More

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 its ridges, rivers filling its winding paths. The broken surface of the earth has become a tapestry woven with threads of beauty and life. The Hudson River Valley is one magnificent example of beauty after breaking. Flowing from the highest point of the Adirondack Mountains, the river reaches a depth… Read More

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. The breath of God brought this humble material to life. Humility and humble originate from the Latin word humus. The original Latin humus means “soil,” and has modernly come to mean the organic component of dirt, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms. The organic component means the part which is derived from… Read More

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 to face the day. Life becomes a task on our To Do List, and facing it each morning may feel like hard work. We bravely rise anyway and go forth, wondering if people perceive how fragile we really are on the inside. There is good news for the weak. Not… Read More

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 mine would demand of me next. Would my son live or die? Would the child I prayed for with tears be taken back by the One who gave him? It is easy to believe in God’s sovereignty, His complete control over all that happens, when things are going well. But… Read More

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 left her home in England to travel by sea to North Africa. There she became a mother to the masses for over fifty years, welcoming new life into the world as both physical and spiritual midwife. Her trunk, now filled with treasures I’ve gathered over the years, is a daily… Read More

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 own image. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Phillips The wrinkled fruit seller yelled at me, his raised hands punctuating every caustic word. Shame on you! Where is your scarf? Cover your hair and your husband’s honor! I had just learned enough Arabic to understand a fraction of his words, but his tone… Read More