Is your Easter Sunday going to look a little different this year? Every year on Easter Sunday, our extended family begins our resurrection celebration with a sunrise service. At the end of a low-maintenance gravel road, 20-30 people--depending on the unpredictable spring weather—gather on the highest point in town. Strangely, or perhaps fittingly, the highest point of this village, nestled in the grasslands of the Midwest, is in the cemetery. On the coldest mornings, we huddle beside a … [Read more...]
What’s Your Love Story?
Every year around this time, especially when I'm pondering what to write about "love," I'm bombarded with song lyrics from the soundtrack of my teen years. Most of them come from pop songs I recorded on cassette with my single-speaker boom box. In so many of the lyrics about love, questions surround the concept. Questions about Love "What is love?" Haddaway asked, and has asked repeatedly for two decades. "What's love got to do with it?" lamented Tina Turner with her signature hair … [Read more...]
Welcomed With Forgiveness
{This work of fiction is based on the framework of John 21:8-9. Previously Part 1, Part 2} Water rushed into his ears, and muted the night sounds. The quiet underwater allowed the screaming questions and the agonizing apology to echo. When Peter broke the surface, he saw Jesus bending over the fire. He swam until he could stand and thrashed through the water to the shore. The unmistakable scar on the hand that stirred the coals and turned the roasting fish confirmed it. It is the … [Read more...]
When Trick or Treaters Make You Think of Jesus
Before pinterest I had to come up with kid costumes on my own. And since visual design isn't one of my strong suits, I came up with exactly one costume. All three of my boys wore it for the year or two that it fit. Only every year, it seemed at least one of them had a fever or some version of the flu, so I never really took them out in their adorable scarecrow costume. A picture on the deck was a far as we got. So when I took my youngest son trick-or-treating last year I was enthralled with … [Read more...]
The Truly Good Father
It sounds almost the same in Latin based languages. It’s the language of a baby, or perhaps a toddler. One repeated syllable packed with endearment. Dada, in English. Pappa, in Afrikaans. Taata, in Lugandan. Abba, in Hebrew. It's one of the first words spoken by a child to one of the most familiar faces in his small circle of recognition. A baby knows nothing of where Dada works or what he does when he’s not at home. A toddler has no capacity to understand accounts … [Read more...]
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