There's this little town in Michigan, where you can go, every May if you want, where people walk around looking inside tulips. And everybody is happy because it's hard to be sad when you're looking at rows and rows and gardens of tulips. And if you look inside a tulip, you'll see a hexagon with dusty sides. And a six pointed star that's holding up a triangle. I think to myself that God pays such close attention to the minutiae. And I suppose He likes geometry. Speaking of God being concerned about the particulars, I wanted to tell you a story. It happened a little over a year ago, as my Dad was passing away. So, let's back up to about four or so years ago, and there was my Mama, who went to her friend's house and fell in love with a little dog. A dog that looked like[...]

You never know what a year will bring. But, later, when those 365 revolutions around the sun, spin to a close, you can look back and see what the year was trying to tell you. I thumb through the pages of this last year and put my ear up closely to the pictures, the scribbling down of my days, to see if I can hear what my life is saying. To listen for what my Maker is telling me, through the reverberation of all those light-speeding moments. Just before the new year had birthed out new again, Haven was born. Haven, whose name means, "safe place." And "a refuge." We whispered into her that the One who made her is our safe place. He's our true Home. And that all of us are meant to be safe places for others. We prayed that she would become that sort of human, walking around[...]

I talked to a few different friends this weekend. Each of them were coming up on major life decisions. And all three of them happened to be believers, meaning, they each had a relationship with God and some kind of notion that God cares about them individually and is somewhat involved in the details of their lives. But they all three carried that same angst in their voice. I recognized that angst because I've had it, too. You know, when you've done your part--you've prayed and you've sought and you've gone knocking on God's door and then you're just standing there waiting and wondering and you seriously wish God would just spell things out to you in the sky. That would sure be nice of Him. For some reason, He doesn't do that. Now, there are a few times, perhaps, for some peop[...]

The other day I found one of my old journals in a box in the garage. So, I took it upstairs and sat on the floor while my kids played and I read through it.  I had written in that journal while I was in college. A time when I thought I was gonna marry a man who I never actually ended up marrying. And when I was scared of Y2K. (Yep, remember that?) And when the cafeteria playing rock music at lunch pretty much wrecked my day. (Yeah, I know. I was a little up tight.) It was interesting and a little entertaining to read the thoughts I used to think and the fears I used to have. In some ways, I was encouraged. Because I could see how I'd overcome certain mindsets that were damaging to me and others. In another way, I was annoyed with myself, because it didn't seem like I'd made all t[...]

God has been teaching me something lately. And by lately, I mean over the last several years of my life. He’s been teaching me how to be a safe place for people’s hearts. See, God puts us on the earth at the same time as other people, so that we’ll take care of each other. So, that we’ll have some folks to belong to and so that they’ll belong to us. Each one of us—we can be a safe place for another soul to find refuge. But, for some reason, this being a safe place for others, it’s not our default. I think I know why. In the beginning, and I’m talking way back in the Garden-beginning, our Maker had created this perfect space for communion. A beautiful place that was safe and where the first people could walk and talk with Him and live these wildly open lives. Just think of i[...]

Today I had this anxious heart. It was all tied up in knots and I knew that I could keep knocking out my to-do list at this frantic pace, or I could just come away and be with Jesus for a minute. I chose to come away and be with Jesus. I spilled out my guts to Him and then opened up His Word to Colossians 3 and I began to pray those things into my life. I let His Word make its home inside my heart and I praised my God. Then I sat still in His Presence and breathed deep and let Him calm and quiet my soul. God's perfect love flooded out all my fears. Then I sat on the couch and sang. This is what I sang: I don't know if you've got an anxious heart all tied up in knots, but if so, well, consider this me singing to you. Little heart, why are you troubled? Why do you walk aroun[...]

Today I wanted to write to you about the Maple Syrup Festival parade. But, last night tornadoes came to my friends and family in Arkansas. I laid in bed with my phone in my hand, after I was done checking on my Ma and Pa. They were hunkering down in a closet and I couldn't sleep. I could only whisper prayers, and hold my phone tight, as if I was holding on to my parents, because I hate tornadoes and I wanted everyone to be kept safe. And this morning, I awoke to find that somehow, my people, the ones that I know and love were all kept safe. But, they have friends that have lost their homes and I know of one woman who lost her husband and two of her girls. Our hearts break. So, it doesn't feel right to talk about parades. And it's hard to know what to think about God when torna[...]

With pictures from my Daddy's Bible. Dear Jesus-following friend, It’s good to read your Bible.  I assume you’ve got one (or most likely, you’ve got at least five, if you live here in America) and since you follow Jesus, I assume you already believe the Bible is important and you believe that God somehow used imperfect humans to jot down His story and compile it for us so we could get to know Him and learn how to live. I’m not saying you don’t have your doubts, or that there’s some things in there that you just flat out don’t understand, but I do assume that you’ve tasted His words, so to speak, and found them nourishing and life-changing and good. It’s good to sit a spell, just a little bit each day if you can, and take His words in. For one thing, we’ve got all this freedom, you an[...]

Have you ever named a year? I've never done it. But, I've heard of it, how you can name your new year something that you hope you will become. I think I'd like to name this new year, "Brave."Brave because I'm not. Mostly, I'm not. Not when I turn on the news. Not when I think of my babes and the world that they'll grow up in. Not when I look at our country and think of all the debt and all the mess we're in. I'm just not all that brave. But, I've been learning how to trust God more. Because He's awful big. He's bigger than the world. So big, in fact, that He holds us in His hands. And He's been doing something in my heart, something new. So that when I hear about the shootings, and the sexual abuse and the slow stripping away of freedoms, I hear this voice and it's gentle but firm. "Maggie[...]