Barbara Robinson’s classic novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, has been read and performed in classrooms, Sunday school rooms, homes, and community theaters. For 45 years readers have giggled, wondered, and maybe even cried with narrator Beth Bradley as she introduced us to the … [Read more...] about How to Read the Christmas Story as if for the First Time
Ordinary & Useful
For those of us who’ve heard the Christmas story a time or ten thousand, there is a tendency to slide right through Luke 2 this time of year without much thought. There it is again. “In those days a decree went out…” It hasn’t changed since last year -- or for the past two millennia for that … [Read more...] about Ordinary & Useful
Unlikely Reasons for Gratitude: Needing Help
It’s almost taboo in our Western culture that thrives on independence and producing. We applaud a man who “pulls himself up by his bootstraps.” We admire a liberated woman, and maybe we even sing along when we hear an old recording of Frank Sinatra singing, “I did it my way!” There’s a sense of … [Read more...] about Unlikely Reasons for Gratitude: Needing Help
Unlikely Reasons for Gratitude: Change
In 1987 on their debut album, the group Exposé had a song called "Seasons Change." It was a pop culture lament over lost love and time. Thirty years later that song still occasionally gets stuck in my head. "Change" gets a bad rap, especially in the song. But recently I've been really thankful … [Read more...] about Unlikely Reasons for Gratitude: Change
Prayer: What difference does it make?
Every morning, for nine days in a row, I listened. My eyes were supposed to be closed, but instead I watched a few left over Wheaties swell and sink in my cereal bowl. In the summer before my freshman year I stayed with my grandparents while they were building a house. Since they were handy, … [Read more...] about Prayer: What difference does it make?
When the Gospel became Good News…to me
Have you ever thought that following Christ means you have to work really hard to earn your keep? The good news is that the gospel is the opposite of earning your keep! Today I'm writing over at (in)courage and sharing about When the Gospel became Good News! (<~Click to join me over … [Read more...] about When the Gospel became Good News…to me