A Feast of Joy
Joy is loud. We sing. We shout. We process in celebration. We dance. Our hearts thrill. We share.
The Joy of Losing Control
Is God really leading me to this place? What if something goes wrong? Am I really going on this trip alone? There was at least one moment where I told the Lord in tears that I didn’t want to go; having at least one travel buddy would be more fun even though I had been longing for some alone time with God.
Waiting for Joy
What if joy is a spiritual emotional quality—something that our physical senses are numb to without Christ—and that with Christ we can begin to become aware of overtime?
8 Steps to Rekindle Joy
If we’re running around looking for joy, we need look no further than sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Letter From the Editor
As our writers take on the topic of The Contemplative Life this month, ask yourself how you can be more intentional about your soul care today.
What Is a Contemplative Life?
Contemplation involves being still, or perhaps walking leisurely through nature, turning off the music or the podcast, and spending time focusing on God and his Word and what it means.
Solitude and the Contemplative Life
Our words have power. When we use words, we are in control and control others. But if we stay silent, who has the power? Who has the control? Humans are desperate for control and forget that God is always in control.
Learning to Embrace Contemplative Practices as Connections to Healing
Reading wasn’t even an option. For someone who longs to always be learning and engaging, that felt strange. However, I knew my body and mind needed the quiet. During those first few days, I lay in silence. But God’s whispering voice spoke loudly into it.
Interesting, Strange Details
When we go through life curiously exploring all the spaces God has given us to wander, and we pay attention to the details left for us to notice and find, we can experience the “continual discovery of Christ in new and unexpected places”
The Heart’s Humble Quieting
When our heart posture aligns with his, beautiful moments of relationship arise. But we must first be open and willing to hear from him.
Marking Patterns of Grace with Stones, Medallions, and Keys
I tell the story of my keys hoping to find my way in the challenges that are surely ahead, and also clearing the path for my peers and their families and friends. And really, aren’t we all longing to be “transformed by the renewal of our minds?”
Letter From the Editor
Dear Friends, I don’t really consider myself to have a green thumb. I love plants and keep many around my house—as long as I can keep my cats from chewing on them—and our yard is filled with foliage. But every once in awhile, something dies, and I don’t have a clue why. One such plant…
Flawless Tender Bloom of Reconciliation
The original Plan—perfect but rejected. Sending hope cascading like a slinky toy down a staircase, coiling, tumbling, coiling, tumbling landing in a tangled heap. The same Plan—a different approach set into motion, to reclaim, and restore hope, unfurling it from earth to far beyond the stars. Unfolding, revealing year after year, a tender plant, growing…
Resurrection Days
I was on a hike in a Florida nature preserve when my friend pointed out trees whose limbs were wrapped with brown, shriveled, lifeless leaves. “These are Pleopeltis polypodioides, commonly called resurrection ferns. They can survive up to 100 years without water, and revive after a single exposure to moisture,” he explained. We celebrate Resurrection…