Tagged: faith

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

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 them. He was my boy-child growing to manhood, but he would always be my baby. I squeezed those toes and walked out the door, leaving him to create. The next time I saw my child several hours later, he was in the emergency room, fighting for his life. In the… 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

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 the village to slow down and rest after a dusty day’s work in the fields. The murmur of women and children as they exchanged their short-handled jembes for water buckets rose like a lullaby. Wrapped in the commanding red linens of head wife, an old woman made her way slowly to a girl,… Read More

...for my Mother-in-Love. Thank you. The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,      they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord,      they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age,      they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;      he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” Psalm 92:12-14 She attacked the roots with a frenzy, her hair flying in all directions, brow crinkled in concentration.  We must help them let go. The little gardenias had become root-bound in their pots while they sat in the nursery waiting for a buyer. Then we came along, bright-eyed and… Read More

Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup, and have made my lot secure. Psalm 16:5 Everything that comes is assigned.  Elisabeth Elliot called this the great simplifier for all of life. Our loving heavenly Father has assigned everything that comes into our lives. Can I accept His assignment? Can you? The Israelites wandered in the desert, all ate of the same manna. But many did not please the Lord and died before seeing the Promised Land. How do you explain the difference between people who have been through the same experience, but with vastly different outcomes? The great simplifier invites us to trust God even when it’s hard. Maybe even when it seems impossible. His portion can be painful.  I have found… Read More

for happy feet Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 There are seasons we run for ourselves, and seasons we run for others. I began running for me. Freshly back from Africa and spiraling downward into grief and large cartons of large Chick-fil-a waffle fries, I needed to move. To breathe. To pump out my… Read More

For my little sister. Thank you. By faith Moses refused…choosing rather to suffer. Hebrews 11:24, 25 I am tucked away in a beautiful place as I write today. Gracious homes with wrap-around porches, along streets lined with palm trees, face the inlet where seagrass blows in the gentle spring breeze. The sun sets right in front of my sister’s beautiful house. The rhythms of family life thrum around me each day as children go to school and return, parents walk fussy babies along gravel paths by the water, and toddlers squeal at the sight of ducks bathing in the storm drain. My family and I are in the space in between. The place between refusing the comforts of our old life and embracing the joy… Read More

Unless a corn of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 The mountain perches on the fine line between winter and spring. The steep forest floor is dotted with tiny green shoots, leaves unfurling like a child peeking out from the covers in early morning to see if it’s time to get up. Scattered in the gray deadened brambles of last year’s life are empty seed shells. The abandoned homes of winged creatures hang from old milkweed stalks, their occupants long since flown away. Cracked and decaying acorns crunch under my feet as I hike the mountain trail, marveling at the ancient oaks giving me shade. Brave and strong, new peony stalks… Read More

Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations. The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: “Say to Daughter Zion, ’See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.’”  Isaiah 62:10-11 Roads transform nations. I have lived in countries with little more than sandy ruts between tiny villages, and others with elaborate highway systems connecting glittering cities. Roads change the world and how we live in it.  In many cases, the ones who built the roads we enjoy were hired laborers, people of small status yet great strength. We don’t think much about them as we speed along in our cars, enjoying the… Read More