“Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.” 1 Timothy 4:14 NIV It was Test Week at my CrossFit gym and I dreaded it.  For several months we lifted weights with a slow count and higher than normal reps. For example, one…

Master craftsmen have signed, stamped, and stitched their marks on their work for years, ensuring their value. Michelangelo’s signature traverses Mary’s sash of his Pieta. Leonardo da Vinci used intertwining knots as his signature (Check Mona Lisa’s bodice.).  And God? He placed His imprint on you, His masterpiece.  The mark of a master determines the value of a…

Rootbound plants are wrapped in their own roots. Like an ingrown toenail, growth has gone inward instead of outward.  And inward is no place to grow.  Roots should spread. Deep and wide. Spiritual roots can bind too.  Squeeze. Tighter than duct tape, they can hold us hostage. I felt stuck. For years. Scripture speaks of several…

She stands there, wrings her hands, and taps the spot where her watch is supposed to be. She paces, back and forth, between the basket that should hold the watch when she’s not wearing it and the chest of drawers where she hid it.  Mom has dementia.  She’d been living in Wichita Falls, and only…

Though wind power failed during our winter storm in February, Texans know March winds will more than make up for February’s failures. As a runner, I’m sensitive to the wind.  Sometimes I get the gentle nudge of a tailwind.  Sometimes the wind swirls and provides much needed cooling.  Sometimes it’s a wall, whose force humbles…

Work or teamwork? Which describes your spiritual walk? For years, the answer for me was work. Do this. Don’t do that.  Yes, I had a relationship with God, but my walk with Him looked a lot like me trying really hard to do what I thought He wanted.  I lived under law, not in grace.…

My husband and I love sports stories, stories where, in spite of great obstacles, the athlete triumphs. Netflix is full of them. However, in Deuteronomy, we find the opposite: great deeds met with distrust and rejection.  “In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 1:32 NIV “This” is the list of miracles God…

Second Chronicles 7:13-14 springs from everyone’s lips these days:  If I [God] shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will…

My husband and I have been watching Sherlock reruns (the Benedict Cumberbatch series). In the episode following Mary Watson’s death, in which she takes a bullet meant for Sherlock, Sherlock says this, “In saving my life, she conferred a value on it. It’s a currency I do not know how to spend.” Profound.  Two thoughts came to…

Here are some tips for surviving the 2020 pandemic—with a spiritual twist. Tip #1: Wash up. As you wash your hands with soap and water, wash your spirit with the Word. God says, “Fear not.” Meditate and pray through Psalm 91 (below). Tip #2: Keep your distance. Distance yourself from fear, anxiety, and stress. God…