Tag Archives: Trust

Desert Rainbow

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rainbow

It would not have made a difference which side of the bed I rolled out of yesterday morning. From either side, the day didn’t look bright. Too much to do with too many loose ends hanging. Even the sky was overcast.

By the time I took my morning walk, it was drizzling. One more strike against the day. What we really needed was a good shower, not a few drops. Even in the desert, we expect (and need) some rain. And we have really needed it lately.

I had a meeting scheduled for the first part of the morning, and I knew I needed to leave the house early to prepare for it. Five minutes later than I had planned, I stepped out the front door with a grim attitude and a cloudy perspective.

And then I saw it—the rainbow. It was the kind of rainbow that forces you to stop and makes you suck in your breath quick. Vivid and brilliant, it stretched across the sky forming a full and perfect arch. Continue reading →

I Choose You

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baby-hand

Eleven years ago today my youngest brother, Nathaniel, was born.

Excited isn’t the word. I think I began counting down the days until his birth about two months before his due date. When my mom woke me at 3:00 a.m. to tell me she was in labor, I couldn’t contain my joy.

If excited couldn’t describe the anticipation preceding Nathaniel’s entrance into my world, I don’t know the word that could describe what I felt when I learned a few hours later that he had been stillborn. Heartbroken doesn’t even come close.

Several weeks after, a mentally challenged lady in our church said it just right: “I miss your little brother,” she commented out of nowhere. “I would have liked to have gotten to know him.” I gave her a hug and then walked outside and bawled. I would have liked to have known him, too. Continue reading →

The Turn Key Word of the Christmas Story (and mine)

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It’s the fiction writer’s staple, but we seldom anticipate it to grace our own daily reality. In fact, our low expectations reveal how little we understand our God’s ways.

In truth, we serve a God of miracles (hello, just read Luke 2), but our tendency when peering into the future is to predict it based on the rate of past progress. We pray desperately for God to do what we can’t, then we rise from our knees, look at the date the prayer request was first entered, and sigh. “Not gonna happen, at least anytime soon,” we feel, even if we don’t say.

But some years ago, a friend pointed out a truth to me that pierces through hazy doubts. Her statement echoed so deeply in my heart, that I’ve been noticing it illustrated in Scripture ever since. Here it is:

God doesn’t usually move immediately; He moves suddenly.

I have a pretty good inner clock, so I easily think God’s late, behind time, letting “perfect” opportunities for action slip by. But just outside your and my line of sight, He is preparing in ways we can’t see. Continue reading →

You Can’t Climb That High

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It’s a real bummer to be very competitive and very afraid of heights—especially when you’re a kid and your older sister loves heights and thrill.

The competitive side of me would say, “If someone else can do it, there’s no reason why I can’t too.” The scared of heights side of me would argue, “Yes, but you are about to fall and die.” (I know, fear is irrational. Most people don’t die from climbing to the top of the swing set and jumping down.)

Sometimes the competitive side won, and I would will myself to climb in spite of my fears. And sometimes the scared of heights side won, and I would say I didn’t really want to climb that day. (Actually, the scared of heights side always won because even if I climbed up, I suffered escalating stages of terror before I made it back down to the ground!) Continue reading →

The Difference

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Have you ever wanted to say, “Yes, Lord, but….”

I have. Just recently, actually.

I was faced with a difficulty with which I had no choice but to trust the Lord. I couldn’t control, change, or manipulate it if I wanted to. (And, frankly, I wanted to!)

When my fate of no control was confirmed, I gave it to the Lord with the words “Yes, Lord.” Yet, in my heart, I added “but….”

  • “…I don’t like it.”
  • “…it’s hard.”
  • “…only because I have no alternative.”

Even as I thought “but…” the Lord whispered a substitute word to my spirit—and. Continue reading →