A few months ago, my daughter, Caroline, curled up next to me on the couch after a day of school that had left her tired and frustrated. She began to tell me how she just wasn’t sure who was a real friend. We talked through it, and I wiped her tears as she let out a big sigh, saying, “I just don’t have a best friend yet.” And it made me want to cry because… … Continue reading
Hanging on the wall in front of my writing desk is a picture of our house in 1940. I (Lance) look at that picture and think, Seventy-five years ago the Lord was in this neighborhood. My neighborhood. Way back then, God was seeking to bring the same compassion, care, peace, and mutual neighborly love he is encouraging people to do by prompting us to write this book. It is no different in your neighborhood. The Lord got… … Continue reading
“This is not how I planned it” Have you ever said that about your life? Have you ever said that about the direction that something you anticipated going in changed? You had a different idea in mind. Life played out differently than you had dreamt. Life played out differently than you had hoped. That situation played out differently than you prayed for. I was talking with someone this week who sheepishly admitted that this wasn’t… … Continue reading
It was getting close to spring during my junior year of college. A few buddies and I decided to plan an epic spring break adventure. To qualify as “epic” it needed to involve a challenge that we weren’t sure we could actually pull off—a challenge that would blur the line between risky and just plain stupid. After about half an hour of scheming and consulting a map, we decided we would spend several nights on… … Continue reading
“Bad tapes”. That is the phrase a good friend used to describe when people have unhealthy thought patterns repetitiously swirling around in their head. Remember mixed tapes from when we were kids? Okay, all my 80’s and 90’s friends know what I’m talking about. All of my iPod generation friends are going “mixed tapes – does that have something to do with Scotch tape?” No, forget it, I’m dating myself and its embarrassing. … … Continue reading
My husband’s sister died of breast cancer when she was just thirty-six. I was pragmatic about her diagnosis at first. I was a nursing student back then, and I knew the statistics: most people do survive cancer. At first, it seemed my sister-in-law would be a survivor. The cancer was treated and wiped out. But it came back, and then it metastasized. The blow of this was long and crushing, and it seemed to come… … Continue reading
I’ve often said in jest, but somewhat seriously also, that one of the blessings of getting older is your vision starts to go. Now you might think that an odd thing to think, but in many ways not being able to see all those wrinkles daily taking over your face, is a blessing. That is, until you get your hands on a magnifying mirror and “Wowzer!” The reality that time has passed—years, maybe even millennia—is clearly… … Continue reading
“Your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour …. take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one.” (I Peter 5:8b; Ephesians 6:16) I like cats – warm cuddly domestic pets with their winsome ways. But, having owned a few (or being owned by them), I am under no illusions as to their basic nature. No matter how charming they… … Continue reading
Eight years ago, at the age of thirty-five, with a wife and three young daughters, I heard words that inspire a whole different kind of fear: “Michael, I’m sorry but you have colon cancer.” Tests would show that it was stage III. I had a world of suffering to go through to beat that nasty monster. Multiple surgeries, chemo, an ileostomy, fatigue, depression, pain. A new kind of suffering. By the grace of God I… … Continue reading
Sometimes there is just nothing to say. There are some things that happen in life that words won’t heal. There are some things that take our breath away that only silence can breathe life back into our lungs. They are the things of life that are beyond someone giving a kind word, a positive hopeful thought, a story of so and so who went through this and that and made it through, a good sermon,… … Continue reading
