Conflict is often full of such. . . loss. Loss of closeness, of dignity, of whatever was precious to us that someone trampled on. But would you believe me if I told you conflict is an opportunity?
I army-crawled through my own questions not long ago, amidst a cancer scare for my son. And I’d say that truthfully, more than events that alienate me from God, my thoughts are what often enslave me, threatening to tear me from the rigorous discipline of trusting what is true.
Like the seven Old Testament feasts God put in place, holidays can be a selah of sorts. So maybe you still have a day or two of holiday time left. If so, I hope these prompts (designed for “prinking” over—that’s praying and thinking) can help breathe some fresh air into your soul for the next year.
Most of us have a hierarchy of Job Coolness Factor. I’ve got one, too.
But as much as I joke about it—there’s an identity factor here, too.
So recently, I had one of my favorite kinds of nights: date night. I won’t gush too much. But suffice to say, I don’t take for granted being married to my best friend.
Truthfully, my heart felt raw, as if it were beating outside of my body. My grief felt so vulnerable, so scraped and skinned and gaping, that privacy was all I could fathom to deal with it.
A friend told me recently of a trip he and his wife took to Hawaii several years back. After dropping his wife off at the terminal for the flight home, he was the only person on the rental car shuttle.
While I was never one of the cool kids in school, I have a personality that’s easily welcomed in church. I’m bubbly. I’m a married, creative mother (bonus!) with domestic-diva interests and a bleeding heart. I’m high-capacity in my time management and irreverent in the right ways. So my gifts, talents, and temperament can really gain me respect in these circles.
Did you know nearly one in 100 people worldwide are displaced from their homes?
Refugees have become so much more than an Associated Press photo in my mind and my heart. For three years, I taught students at a refugee center in Uganda.