We drove to church yesterday, with a black wall to our right half of the way to Reno. Wildfires licked up just about every spot of green from our place in the Sierra Valley last week almost all the way to the Nevada border. There were miracles of places and human and animal lives saved. Someone even posted a photo of a baby calf sitting in an unburned patch surrounded by burnt pasture. But so much black. While I know in my heart that grasses and even wildflowers will push the

What kinds of limitations have you put on yourself? “I’m a woman–that’s a man’s job.” “I didn’t get a college education so . . . “ “My family background is a mess. It is so dysfunctional.” “I’m not strong enough or in good enough physical shape.” “That task isn’t something that syncs with my personality type.” “I’m just not smart enough.” “I’m not attractive.” Well, we’re in good company. Listen to Jeremiah’s conversation with God: “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not kn

I often paint an idyllic picture of my little town with photos that I post on my personal Facebook page. Quaint houses and cute churches. A pretty rose garden. Stunning Sierra Valley photos. But there is some ugliness too. Folks who don’t give a hoot about their yards–with weeds a mile high and junk lying all over. Abandoned buildings crumpling. There is verbal ugliness too. Arguments. Cuss words not just for an occasional emphasis but as the substantive portion of the conver

Limitless. Unconditional. Unfathomable. It’s hard to convey the scope of God’s love for us . . . for you . . . for me. Songs have tried to explain it. Greater than the ocean. Higher than the mountains, the heavens. Wider than the sky. One picture has explained it all for me–Jesus lying down willingly on a cross with his arms splayed wide. I picture those arms spread wide when I don’t feel loved. I picture those arms welcoming me when something I’ve written is rejected. I pict

I don’t know another time when I’ve felt I’ve lived just about every line of this famous piece of poetry written by King Solomon from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV): For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to