If you’re alive, then you have some things you’re carrying around. Some things that crush in on your heart, that cause you some angst or maybe a great deal of pain, even. Probably things you can’t control, or else you would, and you’re not quite sure what to do with them. In fact, you might be so busy that you don’t even know all the things that are there. You just walk around with this gnawing sense that something is there, always there, and it’s crowding out any semblance of joy you once had and infringing on your ability to relax, ever, and take deep breaths and enjoy your life. Or perhaps you do know exactly what the thing is that’s bugging you, keeping you awake at night. Maybe it’s that one strained relationship that causes your heart to be sore every time you think of it a[...]

Some of you have been pretty beat up by religion. You went to church, but church was mostly rules. Mostly a list of do’s and dont's and acceptance was based on how well you were performing. Somehow for the life of you, you never could perform well enough. Some of you have been pretty disappointed by Christians down at the church house. Maybe church was just a thing to do on Sunday. You wear these clothes that look nice. You smile at folks. You stare at the guy in front doing all the talking. You sing some songs. You act like you’re all fine. And then you walk out the door and nobody has a clue what sort of hell you just came from. Some of you have become a bit skeptical. Religion is for those who need to self-medicate, perhaps. It’s an opiate for those who can’t deal with the p[...]

On Sundays, I write to the badly broken. Those who have been bashed to pieces with the Bible and spiritually abused by the church. (Lord, please give me bread for my friends. Tend to their hearts. Bind up their wounds. Somehow use these words to nourish them. Let them feel the tenderness of You, Jesus. In Your Name I ask. Amen.) Some of you have been battered by the super spiritual people. Maybe it was your pastor. Or the folks down at the church house. Maybe it was your Christian parents. Or a teacher. Either way, you’re a bit gun shy when it comes to religious things and you’re not to blame for it. I talked with a girl this week who was severely abused in so many ways by her momma and still is, though she’s all grown up and has a family of her own. Her momma took the Bible a[...]

Hi, friend. So, I come to you on a Sunday full of sunlight. There's a ditch close by, adorned in Queen Ann's lace and chicory, the last bit of summer's glory, and I come wanting to nourish your soul. I'm very aware that I don't have everything figured out. I'm also aware that I've got these ways I fail--that I come up short. But, I've lived long enough to know that most of life is a bunch of struggling along and showing up and feeling like a dufus and then getting up the next day and trying again. The purpose of this Sunday blog is to share Jesus with those that are interested in Him, but have been wounded by the Church somehow. I want to talk to you because I know that you like Jesus but you despise religion. I get that. I don't have much, but I have a story. Sometimes a [...]

You wanna know the truth about me? The truth is, I do more striving than I do resting. I want to have a peaceful disposition, no matter what chaotic things are going on around me. But, I stress a lot. I stress about the crud on the kitchen floor. The piles of laundry. The ring in the toilet bowl. (Okay, let's get real. There's not really a ring. The entire inside is like a whole weird shade of grey.) I stress about the dirty dishes. The overgrown flower beds. The spider webs in the corner. About whether or not I'm investing in my children. Whether or not I'm loving my neighbors. I stress if I'm writing too much. Or not enough. Or from the right motives. Or about the right things. Truth is, I have the awfullest time overcoming myself with all my weaknesses. I want to be a ru[...]

We shouldn't be ashamed of our brokenness. It's through our own fractured places that we're more capable of relating to the world. When we're fragmented, we can deal tenderly with the aches of others. After all, we see that it's hard to hold it all together. We see that we can't always do that. And so we learn to be okay with that. And it's not just okay for us. It's okay for those people over there, too. The Jesus-follower who experiences brokenness has the craziest kind of hope. Because Jesus says of him/her, "Where you're weak, well, that's where I'm strong." (See 2 Corinthians 12:9-10) So, like sunlight bursting through broken up clouds, Jesus shines through all the cracks and crannies of our shattered hearts. And the world sees something they always wanted to see. They [...]

Dear little troubled heart, It's okay. I know you've been a wreck lately and you've sort of lost your way, but I wanted you to know that you don't have to stay here, in this anxious place. You see, your Maker is close by. He's close at hand, even closer than you think and He hears you when you pray. So, come on over. Be still, for just a minute, because I've got a plan. A plan to set you free again, and to make your soul secure, in God's good grace. But, it'll take some work. A fair amount of intention on your part. I know you're ready. So, first, just confess. Talk to Jesus and just tell Him the ways that you've spun out of control. Maybe it's pride. Or fear. Or getting all wrapped up in yourself that you couldn't even see you were all wrapped up in yourself. Maybe it wasn't [...]

This morning, Jesus stood at the door of my heart and knocked quiet. When I opened up to Him, there He was, with a kind and gentle grin and one curious question. He simply asked, How do you want to live today, Maggs? And this is what I said, Jesus, I want to live in proximity to You. I want to tuck these kids of mine under my momma wings and huddle close in this nest with them. I want to keep them safe, since they're still so little, from everything wicked and wild and I'd like to tell them more about You. I want to teach them how to love each other. Would you tuck some love into their hearts? And Jesus, I want to pay attention to my life. To go slow enough to actually see. I don't want to live so fast-paced that all I see is blur. I want to put my ear down to these mome[...]

A while back, I stopped calling myself a Christian. I don't mean to insult anyone. It's just that I didn't like what the term "Christian" had become. To you that may seem strange but I’d like to explain. I suppose there was a time when Christian meant something altogether different than it does today. Today, at least in American culture, a person can be a Christian without actually being like Jesus. Christian can merely mean a person who aims to do good and be good. Or someone who goes to church. Or believes in God. Or someone who reads the Bible religiously. It doesn’t have to mean that Jesus is your life. I’ve met so many Christians who care nothing at all about Jesus and who don’t resemble Him one bit. So, for the most part, I stopped referring to myself as a Christian. And[...]