As the deer…

“As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.” Psalm 42:1
My pastor was talking about this verse the other day.  He said, “Those who pant for God are the ones who have tasted of God, and those who have tasted of God will not be satisfied with anything [...]

Confessions of a Church Brat

I’m a church brat. I’ve grown up haunting the halls of my Bible church, attending summer VBS, racking up the gold stars in Sunday School. It’s never been tough for me to talk the church talk. I know what the little old church ladies approve of, and I know what they frown at. It’s not [...]

Hungry all the Time

In 1999, Ana Carolina Reston crossed the stage in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  At thirteen years old, she had just been named Queen of Jundiai, the winner’s sash draped around her slender figure.  Her mother and father, watching from the audience, beamed with pride.
“The other girls were podgy and had bottoms,” Mrs. Reston stated, ”She won because she [...]

New Desires

I no longer have any desire to settle.  I no longer want to retain what I once considered so precious.  You changed my desires.  I am proud and I am stubborn, but You made it beautiful to surrender.  Whether I am humiliated or not I lay down my arms. Whether others mock me or not I am Yours.  I am nothing…You are everything.  [...]

Show me how far the east is from the west…

I know You’ve cast my sins as far
As the East is from the West
And I stand before You now
As though I’ve never sinned, but today
I feel like I’m just one mistake away
From You leaving me this way.

Why, Lord?  Why do you put up with me?  My miserable failings and hardened heart?  I long to be [...]

Undeserving

This is all I know
Hands are shaking here
Voices in my head
Light is nowhere near.
Deep within my tears
Your face is all I see
You know my deepest fears
Your love is pulling me.
  
Surprised beyond my dreams
To see You standing there
The One I hated so
The only One who cares.
Mountains start to fall
I’ve never been so free
I fall in love [...]

Making Memories

Last night I was driving with my softball team to our play-off game a few hours away.  Our drive was really pretty, past rolling hills covered with evergreens and quirky small towns, in the heart of California’s logging country.  We’d all been through the area before, so there were lots of familiar places outside our [...]

God of the Brokenhearted

Lately I’ve been wondering what it means to have a broken heart, because there are times when mine feels cracked around the edges.  I know what it is to cry myself to sleep.  I know that there are times when I wonder if anything will ever be the same again.  I know what it is to be [...]

Perfectly Matched

My neighbor and family friend owns her own horse-drawn carriage business. Her barn is filled with exquisite antique, refurbished, and custom-made carriages that she drives for hire at weddings, funerals, in parades or at special events.  She has two gorgeous black Shire horses that are brothers and best friends and so perfectly matched that it is [...]

Happy Mother’s Day: Thank God for your Mother

“There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.” – Chinese Proverb
“A mother is she who can take the place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.” – Cardinal Mermillod
“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always [...]