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What is Idolatry?

From one of my textbooks, “The God of Promise and the Life of Faith” by Scott J. Hafemann: “…In other words, idolatry is the futile way of thinking that results from mankind’s failure to honor the One who has revealed himself through creation ‘as God.’ To honor something ‘as God’ is to recognize it as […]

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Getting Schooled: It’s NOT All About Us

Figuring out how to balance going back to school with a job and 4 kids has not been easy. Sometimes I’m tempted to whine, about the expense, the time it takes, and whether or not furthering my education will actually improve my prospects. But then I see videos like this, and remember what a privilege it […]

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Making Church Safe for Victims of Domestic Violence

A couple months ago, I wrote an article for The Covenant Companion about AVA (Advocates for Victims of Abuse), and the epidemic of domestic violence within the church. Writing this article broke my heart, and made me determined to do something about making churches a safe place for people who are or have been victims […]

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Prayer and the Discipline of Ignoring Hornets

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time focusing long enough to pray. Oh, I talk to God, but all too often my needs and concerns wind up tumbling all over each other like starving puppies scrambling for their mama, a machine-gun spray of frantic prayer requests peppering heaven. I sound more […]

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Watch Your Mouth!

I’m angry. And I’m going to spout off. But I’m going to do it gently, with humility, I hope.  The day began normally. I Googled a well-respected Christian author and scholar I was recently introduced to, only to find a blog by two puffed-up pastors denouncing her “sotto voice feminism” (puh-leese) and moaning about the fact […]

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A Million Little Things

Lately, I have been getting the urge to blog again. A million little things crossing my mind–“ooh, I should blog about that!”. So far, I haven’t. But now I’m thinking, why not? Taking a couple minutes out of my overcrowded days to blather on about whatever’s on my mind might be just the break I […]

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Fixing the Fit

Today when Carter, age 7, got off the bus, he complained that his feet hurt. Looking down, I saw the problem.   “Your shoes are on the wrong feet, buddy,” I pointed out. “They usually are,” he replied, completely non-chalant. After I quit laughing (because it’s true–Carter almost NEVER puts his shoes on the right […]

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A Broken Trust, and the reason I write.

“A Broken Trust,” an article I wrote about domestic violence in the church, is being featured in the April 2011 issue of The Covenant Companion. You can read it online here: http://www.covchurch.org/resources/files/2010/12/4.2011.A-Broken-Trust.pdf Writing this article was a little bit like giving birth–long, hard, and emotionally (and even physically!) draining. But the end result was so, so […]

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It’s a scandal, it’s an outrage…

Wow, it’s been a LOOOONG time since I blogged! But today I felt compelled to blog about a common, debilitating condition among Christians (and non-Christians, too): outrage. Now, outrage is not always a bad thing. There are plenty of things in this world to be outraged about, and a healthy dose of righteous indignation is […]

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Proofreading Symbols and Signs of the Times

I figured that my kids would eventually reach the point in their education when helping them with their homework would require more than a cursory glance on my part. But I didn’t expect it to happen like this. Tonight, my nine-year-old came home with a worksheet that he is supposed to “correct,” using proofreading symbols. And I must have turned about three […]

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…and then, my dog died…

I guess there’s not much more to say than that. 🙁 He was a gentle, patient dog that had been a part of our family since Jamison was a one-year-old, curly-headed Gerber-baby-clone. We’d known this was coming for a couple months, and last night it became pretty obvious he was nearing the end of his fifteen-plus […]

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A Better Thought…

I am replacing my previous post, in which I fretted about politics, self-employment, and my children’s welfare, with something better: “Do not worry and say, What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed? It is the pagans who set their hearts on these things. Your heavenly Father […]

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"A History of the Jews" by Paul Johnson

“A History of the Jews” by Paul Johnson is required reading for my degree program, and wow, is it fascinating. He offers great evidences for the historical reality of biblical characters, and amazing insights into the cultural context in which the events of Genesis took place. But what would be REALLY fascinating, I think, would be to see […]

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Patches: Lost and Found

When I came home from my grandparents 60th anniversary celebration (yay!) last night, Patches was nowhere to be found. Since Patches is fifteen years old (that’s Jamison, my 12 year old, hugging the harassed shitzu-poo–note the cool breed name and spiffy 1990’s couch), and it’s been several years since Patches ventured far off the porch, not to […]

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"Oh Captain, My Captain"

So Carter, in an attempt to civilize his annoying baby brother, established a school in the kitchen, drawing charts and stars on our refrigerator (which is coated with blackboard paint) and teaching Grant proper school ettiquete. The school was running quite smoothly for about an hour, and I snuck away to squeeze some work in, but it wasn’t […]

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