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Christmas Keys

My hands delicately touched the ivory keys. In reverent solace, I took a deep breath as I sat in the darkness of this unfamiliar house. Slowly, I began to let my fingers flow with the emotions I was feeling. It had been months since I had sat at a piano. But this piano was nothing like the one I had known before: this piano was a perfectly tuned Baby Grand, worth thousands of dollars. The piano I had know - my piano - was an old out of tune spinet that I had purchased at a yard sale for $50. And in that moment, as my fingers danced across the meticulously cared for ivory, I realized how deeply I missed my old out-of-tune friend. It was a feeling that came unexpectedly, this grief. It startled me. So, I quickly stuffed it down inside of myself and shook it off as nonsensical. But as warm tears began streaming down my cheeks while I played this Grand, I soon realized that this was an emotion I could no longer deny: I was grieving the loss of my piano. The loss of my piano had come a
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Mourn With Those Who Mourn

I didn't know what to say. I had replayed the appropriate response in my mind multiple times but could never land on something substantial. Now, here I was in the moment I had been preparing for with absolutely nothing to say. I was really a stranger, after all, to this very private person. We had only met once before. So what could I say to them knowing that they had recently lost a child? Other strangers standing there with me said, "I am so sorry for your loss," and "I'm praying for you." Me? I stood there in awkward silence. I drove away that day replaying my idiotic behavior. I felt so foolish. Why hadn't I offered condolences? Why hadn't I said that I, too, was sorry for their loss? At the time, it all sounded so flat, so hollow. Now, I just felt like a fool, like one of Job's friends who just sat there and said nothing for an entire week. An entire week! Yep. I was now that fool. I had never suffered such devastating loss as the passin

Questions in the Garden

No one can tell a story like God can. If you were to combine Shakespeare, Tolkien, Austen, and Dickens into one fantastic writer, you could still not come close to the imaginative, creative, fascinating stories that God composes. His stories have layers and hidden nuances and double meanings like none other. Open your bible and read through its history and you will find the greatest literary work on the planet. What makes this book the greatest (outside of the obvious life-transforming gospel and theology it carries), is that these layered true stories and complex plots were not written as stories: they were written as invitations - invitations to experience what is being told first hand. You see, the bible records more than words of life, more than doctrine, more than theology and truth -  it records the location of an actual veiled Kingdom filled with endless treasures that are more of a reality than the world we see. Every parable, every lesson, every life-changing truth is an invit

Beautiful in Weakness

I am writing a book called, "Lessons From the Tree." I don't post that here to brag or in hopes of sparking interest, because let's be honest - I reckon that only my mom and a couple close friends even read this blog...and the same will probably be said for my book. I mention it today because the book is all about learning to hear God's voice. The title comes from the vision that I often see in prayer: Jesus and me sitting under an ancient tree in a beautiful garden. This image has come to me countless times now and each time I allow the scene to unfold, I am blown away by the lessons the Spirit teaches me there. Under the cascading branches, I have learned about God's holiness, his mercy, his never-ending love for me. I have learned about how he sees me as beautiful even in my weakness, how he loves even the smallest area of obedience, and how he loves me - not forces me - into greater faithfulness. All of these lessons, taught right under that tree, are tied

Stilling the Pendulum Swing of Worship

I once heard a comedian say that cranberries had made their way into everything: cran-apple, cran-grape, cran-Sprite, cranberries in cereals, in desserts, and so on. It was one of those observational jokes that makes you go, "Oh, yeah! You're right!" Well, I have observed a trend in my local Christian bookstore, on my local Christian radio, and all over the internet. The word "worship" has snuck in everywhere. Now, I don't mean worship as in devotion or sacrifice - I'm talking about worship music. For the last few years worship music has been all the rage. Christian bands who are known more for their poppy, fun, kind of lyrics, or bands that are known for their hard-rock sound, suddenly came out with "worship albums." I mean, we kind of have to scratch our heads and say, "Isn't it ALL suppose to be worship?" But, I understand what they mean - they are cutting through the artistry in order to simply praise His name. Or are they?

Destiny & the American Church

Buzz Words. They are everywhere. You cannot escape them. And they are always changing. In today's world of social media, we see buzz words come and go so quickly, that many of us don't even know what the latest cool catch phrase is (For those of you who are still using words like, 'groovy, ' 'daddy-o,' or 'swell,' ya' might as well skip to the end of this post, because you'll REALLY be lost for a while.). Remember when phrases like OMG, LOL, and ROTFL were simply used for texting and not for everyday vernacular?  Remember when the word "Extreme" was posted on everything from sports activities to bible devotionals? And who could forget a number of years ago, when the buzz word that saturated the landscape like oil in a soggy tater tot was, "Synergy"? Commercials, politicians, pastors, CEO's - everyone who was someone - was using this word to explain business, life, or whatever endeavor in which they were apart.Yes

Thanksgiving Lesson: Pilgrimage

Part of the fun of Thanksgiving when I was a child was all of the crafts, songs, and holiday lessons I got to do at school. From tracing my hand into a turkey, to singing songs about grateful hearts, school was always super exciting when Thanksgiving rolled around. One of my favorite activities involved making over sized Quaker hats out of construction paper. I would carefully cut out a long black hat with wide brim, then use my Elmer's glue to paste on the gold buckle smack dab in the middle of the hat. Some cool classrooms even got to make construction paper collars to make their outfit complete. But, whether you were in the super cool class or the semi-cool class  (like me), each kid would don their pilgrim apparel,  circle up for story time, and eagerly listen to the tales about the wide brimmed hat wearing pilgrims who made their impetuous journey on the Mayflower to America. Then, in reverence and adoration, they celebrated a day of giving thanks to God for their new home and