You Shall . . .

Try taking each one of the Ten Commandments and framing them as something to do instead of something not to do. Only two of the commandments do not use the word NOT anyway, the one about honoring the Sabbath and the one about honoring your parents. Refresh your memory on the other commandments here. For example: “You shall not commit adultery.” What would be the DO of this commandment? If we aren’t...

Why Birthdays are Awesome

1. You get to see where you came from. I turned 34 on Friday and realized that I remember when my mother was 34 years old. But instead of making me depressed, I actually felt better. I mean, my mom is loving her life right now. Her kids are grown, her grandkids are cute, and she’s pursing her dream of writing professionally. At 34, I see I’ve got a lot to look forward to. 2. You get to see where your...

A Writing Game

Ever played the Seven Word Wisdom challenge? I read about it this week in some homework but found an old contest explaining the rules here. For example, the author of a book on proper diet and nutrition writes, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” To play, you simply condense your wisdom into seven words using a 2-3-2 word sequence. Three short sentences. Here’s another one concerning food:...

Courting

My husband’s younger brother visited this week, thrilling my children and giving my husband a longed for piece of home. It was actually his brothers that I met first. They won me over with their boyish sweetness and made everything super easy for Dan! His Dad and Mom and sister were pretty great, too; I knew them all before I knew Dan. Last week one of my Bible College students referred to the time before she...

Romans 12: 1-2

A friend of mine is putting together a fashion show for the teenage girls she works with this week. She is using this Scripture from The Message as her theme and I think it is great spiritual food for thought today. Unpacking this passage in this translation could keep me busy for weeks! I love the Bible. So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping,...