Tagged: honor

@audreycfrank Jesus was getting ready to leave in the boat. The man who was freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus would not allow the man to go. Jesus said, “Go home to your family and friends. Tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man left and told the people in the Ten Towns about the great things Jesus had done for him. All the people were amazed. Mark 5:18-20, ICB When Jesus asked him his name, the man of the Gerasenes answered with the name shame had given him: “My name is Legion, because I have many spirits in me” (v.9). The evil forces that had stripped his… Read More

@audreycfrank In the very place where they were once named Nobody, they will be named God’s Somebody (Hosea 1:10, The Message). I once knew a girl who was ashamed of her name.  It was an unusual name, an uncommon name, a name which caused others to ask its origin. When the unavoidable question came, the girl would avert her eyes and mumble a soft explanation that left the questioner confused but with the distinctly uncomfortable impression that this topic was complicated. Her name had been given in haste, created by two people who found themselves in more trouble than they anticipated with a baby they had not planned. In the middle of a dark and chilly night, they escaped together to another place where no one… Read More

@audreycfrank The billowing saffron colored melhfa blew around her small frame like a mystery. And that suited her, for that’s what she was the first day I laid eyes on her. An enigma, a puzzle, a silent beacon of courage pressing against the crowds outside our hospital gates. I did not understand her yet. But I would, and knowing her would teach me more than I could have imagined. Two hours later it was finally her turn with our team of examiners. The nurse was first, then me. As a speech-language pathologist on a cleft-palate team, my first job was to examine the patient and determine his or her candidacy for surgical repair within the context of feeding and speech. Patients’ names would then be… Read More

@audreycfrank This week the world held its breath as teams worked tirelessly to rescue twelve children and their soccer coach from deep beneath a mountain in northern Thailand. One volunteer, a former Thai Royal Navy Seal, gave his life when he was overtaken by a flash flood, his oxygen supply not enough to sustain him in the powerful waters. An expert diver, avid runner, and cyclist, he was trained and equipped with the highest possible skills for the task. He knew the risk he was taking and took it anyway. The thirteen lives stranded in the caves were worth it. We can be assured that he asked the questions necessary to assess the risk he took that eventually ended his life. The media posed questions… Read More

I see you. I see your pursuit of worth. The way you try to walk without stumbling in those high heels. The nervous flutter of hands smoothing your dress, the careful way you styled your hair. I hear you comment self-consciously about whether or not your Chacos should really be worn with a floral dress. I see the lightweight scarf you chose for your hijab, hoping it might breathe just a little in the pressing heat as you sat under the relentless sun. I see the combat boots you chose thoughtfully and deliberately to make this important march today. I see your eyes darting around nervously while fighting to keep a steady gaze as you march proudly off the commencement stage. I see your colors,… Read More

disarm: take a weapon or weapons away from (a person, force, or country); remove the fuse from (a bomb), making it safe; deprive of the power to injure or hurt. (New Oxford American Dictionary) I am heavily armed at all times. My weapons are both visible and concealed, and I am careful to wear them at all times. Over time I have collected quite an arsenal. Performance is my nuclear weapon, carefully engineered to obliterate rejection and disapproval across vast distances. Coming in a close second in power is a highly dependable weapon called Control. Its accuracy can be counted on and it rarely misses its mark, unless the target moves by forces beyond my control. The next weapon might surprise you. Called Good, it… Read More

Around the world, across borders and inside human hearts from every nation, a revolution is happening. People once suffocated by shame are taking their first gasping breath, eyes opening to a new life of honor instead of disgrace. Shame was never meant to be your portion, sings poet and artist Kristene Mueller DiMarco in her song titled Mercy. It was not part of the original plan for humanity, so lovingly created with intrinsic worth and value. Every man and every woman was created with immeasurable significance, designed to love and be loved. In the next chapter of humankind, the lies began and shame entered, robbing man and woman of their true identity. Your true identity and mine is cherished by God. Shame conceals the truth. Honor reveals… Read More