Chains: An Alternative Look at the Passion of the Christ

Chains: An Alternative Look at the Passion of the Christ

There was one, dark witness at the cross the Bible doesn’t talk about.  [In celebration of Passover and Easter, I present an alternative look at Jesus’ last few hours.] The crowd was chanting and screaming, clawing at the early morning air. Their sandaled...
My Marriage: Twenty Five Years on the Anvil of Time

My Marriage: Twenty Five Years on the Anvil of Time

Marriage puts our character on the anvil of time. Our impurities are revealed then burned up and beaten out until we are sharp and strong. Only then do we understand the hard and humbling aspects of marriage are forging something infinitely greater than two separate people.

Why We Lie

Why We Lie

Lying to others is deplorable. It erodes trust, the glue in any relationship. You don’t have to look to the political arena to see it either. Look at your workplace, in your home, and even in your own heart. But lying to ourselves (and to God) is worse than lying to...
Overcoming the Need to “Medicate” Emotional Pain

Overcoming the Need to “Medicate” Emotional Pain

It is human nature to flinch and flee from physical and emotional pain. And the torment from abandonment, rejection, verbal abuse, and shame can linger long after physical trauma has healed. But because those wounds are on the inside where no one can see them and...
Intimacy with God is a One-Size-Fits-All

Intimacy with God is a One-Size-Fits-All

A little more than four years ago, my husband and I separated due to sin in my husband’s life. I soon found out was there was quite a lot in my own and it was primarily due to my shallow intimacy with God. It is my default to try to play god in my life and in...
Two Corpses Walk into a Bar…

Two Corpses Walk into a Bar…

This week I was reminded why I decided to go into teaching. And no, it wasn’t some fulfilling teachable moment I had with a student or the epiphanic stare that tends to follow a windfall of understanding in a 13-year-old’s eyes. It was much more selfish than that. I...
What’s in a Name?: Finding Our Real Identity

What’s in a Name?: Finding Our Real Identity

I remember when I was 17 waking up nearly naked in a strange bed next to a young man I barely recognized. I also remember gathering up my remaining clothes and fleeing. Later, I couldn’t help asking myself what had happened. I knew I had gone to a friend’s...

Ball ‘n’ Chain in the Rearview Mirror

I learned to drive on a stick-shift. Jerk-jerk-jerk. If you thought moving forward could give you whiplash, you’ve never had your head snapped while looking behind you. Talk about getting a crick-neck! When I finally took Driver’s Ed in high school, we had automatic...

Putrefied or Purified

My heart is a cesspool. I’ve tried to get rid of the odor with essential oils. I’ve tried to cover it with a nice chintz cover. I’ve tried spraying it with 409. I’ve tried to pretend that the brown ooze seeping over the edges isn’t really there. It’s not working....