Ever since childhood my fascination with creation has both fueled my learning and drawn me closer to God. From the early days of scampering through the woods, swimming in creeks, fishing, catching salamanders and collecting leaves, to my school days of charting constellations and measuring the arc and phases of the moon, my thirst for science has opened my eyes…
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Where Creation Falls Short
When Darkness Reveals the Light of God’s Promises
Are you afraid of the dark? Me too…sometimes. Despite having baggage around dark seasons of my life, God is inviting me to view darkness through a new perspective. While darkness holds a certain fear of the unknown, it also showcases even small amounts of light in a spectacular way. When we relax our negative view, we find darkness reveals the…
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Finding Wonder in the Wilderness
Lent is likened to a wilderness journey because its forty days duration mimics Christ’s forty days of temptation in the wilderness before beginning His public ministry. But Lent also alludes to Christ’s solitary journey to the cross. Though He spent countless hours of fellowship and instruction with His twelve disciples, they little understood the final destination of His journey. While…
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Lent: A Journey Home
Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the official start of Lent, a time of reflection, repentance, and what I call recalibration. Lent offers us a unique time for plumbing the depths of our hearts while communing in a more intimate way with God. Culminating in the crucifixion of Christ, Lent is viewed as a journey to the Cross. But I also view…
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Why I Said Farewell to Personal Development
In keeping with my focus on a gentle approach to the new year, laying down my self-improvement toolbelt, and leaning into a less achievement oriented purposeful rest, I said farewell to the albatross of personal development. I am convinced that excessive focus on personal development is the bane of spiritual growth. For as long as I can remember, an unhealthy…
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Waking Up to Purposeful Rest
Previously one of lament, my attitude towards the season of winter recently underwent a small shift. Choosing to enter the new year with a mindset of ease rather than one of frenzied activity has opened the door to purposeful rest in my life. Our success driven culture views times of rest as a sign of weakness or laziness, but winter…
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Slow and Steady Wins the Race
I remember as a child how difficult it was to accept the moral of the story of the tortoise and the hare. Having the words, “slow and steady” in the same sentence as the word “race”, makes no sense to a child. But as a wiser adult, who has subdued a strong competitive drive, it makes perfect sense. Authentic personal…
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What New Thing is God Doing?
Stepping into a new year, many people envision new things ahead. In my own reflections on a new year, I sat with the word, “new”, more in an attempt to clarify my expectations for what form “new” things might take. More specifically, what new thing is God doing? How many times do we cross over into a new year with…
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Your Prayers Are Heard
“Be the answer to someone else’s prayers,” became the balm for my disappointed heart when my own prayers went unanswered. While it helped in the wait, nothing soothes an anxious heart like knowing your prayers are heard by God. Many times, the greatest ache of unanswered prayers resides in wondering if God even heard your cry. We all carry unanswered…
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