Tagged: Audrey Frank

for Jen and Hil, we the original Cambridge Three Get up and begin the work! May the Lord be with you!1 Chronicles 22:16 I had longed for many years to become an intercessor. I was surrounded by mighty prayer warriors, women and men who devoted regular time to deep and persistent prayer, a level much deeper than I, as a young college student, had ever committed. I could see the fruit of their prayers, the way they persevered until breakthrough came, the patience with which they tarried before the King of kings, the One who moves mountains by His servants’ prayers of faith.  I yearned for that depth of character and commitment in myself. I strived to be like those I admired. As a graduate… Read More

My counsel to you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7, MSG School’s out. Families are clustering around dining room tables sorting how to do school at home and everyone’s wondering… can I just sleep in every day? The Coronavirus has brought a new level of suffering to the home, the neighborhood, the city, the state, the nation, and the globe. Life as we have enjoyed it until… Read More

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars… Read More

for Kate with love You keep track of all my sorrows.You have collected all my tears in your bottle.You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8 How fitting that I would unwrap this tiny vessel today. Many years ago, on another continent far from home, I made a sorrowful journey through grief after the loss of a much-anticipated baby girl. My friend Kate, upon returning from the small Mediterranean village of Hammamet, Tunisia, brought me this beautiful, delicate glass bottle. Attached to it she had written in her lovely, flowing script, You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalm 56:8) Today I found it tucked in… Read More

Lent began on Wednesday and will continue until Easter Sunday, April 12. Lent is traditionally a time when Christians reflect on their faults, repent, and seek to purify their hearts and desires. It is an opportunity to grow in holiness in preparation for the celebration of Resurrection Day on Easter Sunday. Over the next forty days, I will be sharing personal Lenten reflections from my own journey with Jesus during this sacred season. It is my prayer for you that my honesty might give you courage and let you know you are not alone. The Savior knows us by name, and He loves us. O Lord who rules over all, how blessed are those who trust in you!Psalm 84:12 My house is a comfortable mess.… Read More

ready for battle with stick and sword But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.Psalm 131:2, NIV His flaming cheeks were damp with tears, skin clammy and sweaty from the fight. Those long eyelashes everyone admired were clumped together like little dragon spikes framing big blue eyes clouded with frustration. Sweet chubby fists clenched at the side of his blue corduroy overalls while he stomped his feet as though the earth were a drum and he was calling in reinforcements.  My toddler had not been allowed to eat the cookies he wanted, and for some reason beyond his comprehension, Mommy had put them out of his reach in a hiding-place… Read More

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.2 Corinthians 4:7 For many years I read this passage with one clear image in mind. Terra-cotta, reflecting the earth’s rich hue, thick, rough-hewn earthen jars just the right size to hold in two hands. Their purpose, to be filled with whatever is needed and poured out in service. I imagined them brimming with freshly pressed olive oil, warm water for washing tired feet, or frothy goat’s milk newly squeezed. Such mental images came to life in my travels through South America and East Africa as I discovered countless vessels created to hold something useful and aid in service.  I thought deeply about the… Read More

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.Romans 5:5 There is a hope that does not put us to shame. Love, at its heart, is about hope. Hope that we might be valued enough by others to be loved by them. Without hope, there could be no love. How interesting that Romans 5:5 embeds this little gem of encouragement right in the middle of a hard passage about suffering, during a time when many hearts want to give up all hope. Paul, the writer, urges us toward a better hope, one that does not disappoint. Our world needs to know such hope right now. The… Read More

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.Psalm 139:23 We are anxious about everything, it would seem.  Today on the Culture Translator, I was introduced to the latest anxiety trend among Generation Z: “eco-anxiety.” Stemming from the belief that there is currently a climate crisis, eco-anxiety is causing a majority of 18-25 year-olds to worry about what will happen in the future. Before you judge Generation Z, stop and evaluate what has your heart racing these days. What makes you worry about the future? How do we know what is really worthy of adrenaline-producing, cortisol-throbbing anxiety?  We have a little saying in our house when stress begins to shake us: “Is it an ant, or an elephant?” And like… Read More

We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body.2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “What can man do to you? Much every way. Like a small thing unsheltered, like a mimosa in a thunderstorm—stems, leaves, flowers, involved in a common distress—that is how you feel till you remember God. And then what happens? …you prove that the spirit of man energized by the Spirit of God can defy the natural, and need not be, as it would naturally be, destroyed when… Read More