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Mosquitoes and Spiders and Snakes, Oh My!
I can’t believe it, but I don’t think I’ve ever been on a missionary trip before. My husband reminds me we helped at an orphanage in Juarez, Mexico once but I’m not sure that counts since we stayed at...
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Nicaragua: What does Prayerful Grace Look Like?
Baking heat, no moving air. We had to put up dark curtains over the “windows” in this cinder block school with a metal roof so Jon can read the auto-refractor. School children out of class hang on to...
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Nicaragua: The Joy of Unusual Transportation
All my friends who have taken this Nicaragua missionary trip in the past warned about one thing after the bugs and heat: “You’re not going to believe that plane flight into San Carlos.” Hey, we’re...
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Nicaragua: Lluvia Keeps Falling on my Head–Not.
How would you like to wake up every morning to this: We traveled to Nicaragua during the rainy season in the tropics, so lluvia, rain, falling from the sky was no surprise. We were nearly drenched when...
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The Bittersweet Humility of a Published Book
Several years ago I sat in my rocking chair to “have it out with God.” I was tired of talking about writing and trying to write. I needed to know if this desire to write was from God, or was something...
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The Three Answers to Prayer
Three. That’s it. You can expect one of three answers to a prayer asked of God. Everyone loves the first answer, yes. Certainly. That means God agrees with you and the response is probably staring into...
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Reality or Just a Worship Style?
Several years ago I wrote a spiritual memoir I call Loving God Without a Label. It’s the story of how I found God and worshipped Him in many different settings across the United States and even into...
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Fear as a Catalyst for Prayer
My son was slated to leave at 6 the next January morning to drive from Seattle to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In my northern California home, I could not sleep. I kept thinking about the frigid conditions...
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Six Things to Pray About in the Middle of the Night
Project Guttenberg “Well, friends,” said the Scarecrow, “we mustn’t stay here in the meadows all night, so let us find a pleasant place to sleep. Not that it matters to me, in the least, for I never...
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What to do with Grief?
Even though he’d been ill a long time and it was not unexpected, when I got word my father had died I felt numb and shocked. Indeed, my brother expressed it best: “How did that happen?” Even in the...
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To Throw Away a Book
I threw away a book today. I tossed it in the trash can and shut the door. I don’t want to be tempted to rescue it, no matter how beautiful the cover. I’ve only thrown away a couple books in my...
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How Do You Pray for Half-an-Hour for Someone?
This is a post I recently wrote for a missionary friend, explaining to the people who had signed up to pray for her, exactly how I pray for an extended period of time. Once a month my husband and I...
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The Value of a Prompt
All five of my published works were the result of a prompt, as is the massive World War I novel I’m working on now. I’ve written a number of other projects but, curiously, my own ideas seem to go...
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What’s the Point of Prayer?
Have you ever asked yourself what’s the point of prayer? Especially if you prayed for or about something and the answer appeared . . . awful? What if a friend, an old friend you’d prayed for before...
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Tricky Family Relationships and Peace
I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried to handle family relationships with peace over the years. This Thanksgiving I’m not having problems, but in the past, I’ve run into difficulties. It’s not my...
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My Utmost for His Highest and Prayer
This is the 1982 paperback Barbour edition I’ve used for many years. I’ve read My Utmost for His Highest as a daily devotional for more than 15 years. Why would I reread the same devotional year after...
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My Utmost for His Highest and Sunday School
My husband recently began using My Utmost for His Highest devotionals in his post-high school Sunday School class. It didn’t start that way, but that’s where they are now. R and the young people are...
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How to Understand My Utmost for His Highest
The different ways I read My Utmost for His Highest Do you have trouble understanding the devotionals in My Utmost for His Highest? If so, you’re not alone. Many people have told me these types of...
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How I Learned to Pray from a Russian Jewish Peasant
Albrecht Dürer – Study of an Apostle’s Hands How did you learn to pray? I learned from a Russian Jewish peasant named Tevye. I grew up in a household in which God and religious beliefs were not...
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God’s Grace and the Power of Offensive Prayer
What is offensive prayer? Accent the first syllable, please. OFF-ensive. Like in football. Taking offensive action is to act in a positive direction toward your goal. I coined the phrase, I think, for...
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