Tools for Telling the Story God Has Given You
"Our lives are not a puzzle to be figured out. Rather, we come to God who knows and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God." That one bit of advice from author and theologian Eugene Peterson (The Message) was all I needed to convince me that my story is not MY STORY. It is...
Sharing My “Come to Jesus Moment” Gets Easier the More I Tell the Story
When I am asked to share my "salvation story" -- the moment in my life when I asked Jesus into my heart, accepted Him as my Lord and Savior -- when I'm asked for that story, I'm tempted to give the short version. But a question like that deserves the whole story. Here is my three-step ascent to the moment I knew Jesus saw me and loved me. Step...
Digging Up Roots and Gathering Life Stories
"Times were hard in Scotland, and Grandfather Wilson saw little prospect of any better for his children. So after learning all he could about the new land, he decided to come to Canada....." Thus begins Anne Isobel Wilson's account of her family's immigration from Scotland to Canada in 1843. The author of the document is a daughter of James, a...
What to do with that space in your life where sorrow lives
God gave me four children, four babies who depended on me and who gave more meaning to my life than I could have imagined. Since that moment decades ago when I opened my heart and my womb to welcome my first child, I've watched that decision form me, challenge me, inspire and test me. They're grown now, those four little boys. Men with jobs...
On Reading: Books That Bring Healing and Life
I love a good story. Don't you? There weren't a lot of story books in our home when I was growing up, but our neighborhood babysitter had plenty. She introduced me to the wonder of fairy tales, reading to me and my sisters at bedtime from one of the big, colorful books she'd brought along. I not only wanted to read more of them, I wanted to...
3 Ways To Prepare For Life’s Interruptions
It seems I never do anything just once. I’ve retired three times in my lifetime – once from a 20-year career in journalism, once from 20 years of homeschooling and finally from bookkeeping for our family business (something I felt like I'd done forever). Retiring is not something I plan to do again. To quote a favorite author (and now a...
Your Life Stories Matter — Do Tell!
The last time we met here, I was writing to you from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I spent a week there in June serving alongside others from my church. We ministered to orphans and families in the area through Forgotten Children Ministries. It was my third trip with FCM and the experience was impactful in many ways. I had already decided to give the...
Divine Appointments: Gratitude, Pride and Deliverance in Honduras
There is so much one cannot learn about a nation in a brief span of six days. And yet, so much that is known because of a shared Creator. Two thoughts linger from my week serving with a mission team in Honduras: Gratitude and pride can co-exist Things are not always as they seem Of gratitude and pride As we offered food, supplies and prayers...
Divine Appointments: A Story of Redemption in Honduras
There are many borders between northeast Indiana and Monte Redondo, Honduras. State borders, continental borders, national borders. We crossed them all in our journey to and from Honduras last week. But manmade barriers prove ineffective when hearts come together to share stories of adversity and faith, and to celebrate divine appointments....
On a Mission: Divine Appointments
An unfamiliar birdsong awakened me this morning, as it has for the past three days. I'm in a mountain village in central Honduras -- Monte Redondo or "round mountain". The bird's trilling is soon interrupted by the sharp staccato of a bus horn. The middle grade boys living at Finca Grace (Grace Farm) chatter as they board the bus to travel one...