a planted life | learning to love
Photo by kira schwarz on Pexels.com Fear can strangle you. Lies can put you in real danger. Truth can be a hurricane sweeping through and flattening everything you've worked to build. And you can be so overcome with the shadow of death that you stop bagging your tomatoes in the produce section and grind your... Continue Reading →
Lord, it's too much Too much evil Too much death Too much weight Weight my chest can't bear I know you say, "Bring it here" But when I try I can't lift it I can't speak it It can't stay this way I don't know how to Open my mouth and say All the pain... Continue Reading →
When you shake a cup, what comes out reveals what's been in there all along. The global corona virus pandemic has brought out the suspicion, anger and conspiracy theories in many. I've been thinking about why so many of us are given to believing or promoting conspiracy theories. Folks who do so seem to be... Continue Reading →
There's a story in Genesis that grabs me. Abraham and Sarah used their servant Hagar in their unbelief to get for themselves the child God promised. But when Sarah finally gave birth to the son God had promised, they sent Hagar and her son Ismael away into the desert. In Genesis 21:8-21, the story goes... Continue Reading →
You look like a captive, a kidnapped woman with a black cloth tied, covering your eyes. You look scared. I can see your mouth, your face turned away trying to hide from what you cannot see. You look hopeless. But I know your pattern. I know this cycle you go through- phases of light shining... Continue Reading →
All this time I shrunk back. I heard the low rumble of his growl I remembered the pain The times he blamed and enticed me to curse God and die. I remembered sinking in the sand he told me was solid ground. And I pulled back. There is a lion out there in the street.... Continue Reading →
My sister prodded. She was brave charging through boundaries turning carts of questions safely hidden in my head. I knew why. I knew. It was an assumption- I'd get married. Have kids... do whatever my parents did. It weighed on me, even at ten. This idea that I would acquiesce my life accepting my fearful... Continue Reading →
It's the first day of school around here. My 6'3" firstborn walked out the door to start his sophomore year, hands in jean pockets, looking at his boots, one ear bud in, one draped over the other ear, baseball cap and t-shirt sporting his athletic cowboy look. My 5'10" freckle-faced, fair-skinned and just-as-sensitive-in-heart son walked... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Faithfulness 