During the fourteen years that I was fasting from publishing books, Kristi and I were on a retreat with a group of church leaders. Being quiet and still before God opened up my heart so I became aware of feeling deficient and was tempted to break my fast. I felt I was not doing enough…
When Jesus lived on earth, he never walked on eggshells around people, worried about upsetting them, clung to them for approval, or pushed to get them to do what they should. He was self-aware, secure, solid, purposeful, straightforward, loving. How did Jesus do this? How was he able to be so loving, even to difficult…
“I feel invisible,” Angelica’s face sunk with her words. “My husband doesn’t even see me. He’s so focused on his work, his ministry projects, what he wants to do. There’s no room for me in our relationship…” After listening to her awhile, I felt like she was invisible! Really. My office was filled with his…
One thing that helped turn me around before I totally burned out was to look prayerfully at the life of Jesus. I studied the Gospels carefully and learned some surprising things that I hadn’t been taught in church. I saw Jesus setting boundaries repeatedly. I share the full results of this study into the confident…
We all want to be happy, but that can depress us! A pastor in my counseling office forced a smile, “I’m happy to support our friends who left our church to help out at a new church.” Aaron sounded so mature, so loving. But I could see disappointment in his eyes and discouragement in his…
As I prayed and pondered the beautiful life growing in my daughter’s womb so much began to well up in me! So many things I wanted to share about my Abba and his care for her! So I began to write Letters From Papa. The nurture and love of both of our parents set the…
The warmth of God’s presence can be elusive. In his secret journal Henri Nouwen is vulnerable about a dark season in which he couldn’t feel God’s love. He’d helped millions of other people around the world into a more tender and intimate experience with God, but he was in a Dark Night of the Soul.…
I was feeling discouraged and spiritually low. As I laid in bed I told the Lord I was really missing feelings of consolation and longing to feel his loving presence. Then in church I was feeling lonely and out of place and I was questioning if I was making a difference in my life. At…
Recently I became a “Papa”! This is me looking into the eyes our first grandchild Juliet Bella! What a heart-pumping and face-illuminating joy this is for Kristi and me! Yet, it’s not easy for us to make space in our calendars and to save energy in our bodies to give quality care to her. This…
It was a defining moment when I faced my fear of failing and looking foolish in the most important purpose of my life. Before I tell you that story let’s chat a bit about success and failure. We all want to be a success. We want to make a positive difference for God and for…