If You Want to Stay Well

In: Blog, life, wholeness    12 comments

If becoming well is a steep mountain climb with high altitude endings, staying well is living in that high altitude despite the ongoing challenge of threatening high winds. The truth is: it’s hard to stay well in a world that blows us in a different direction. It is why we have to want to know [...]

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Winners and this Wednesday

In: Blog, Uncategorized    10 comments

First…thank you all for using your voice last week to comment on the post. I cannot tell you how much I love, love this community. You inspire me, more than you know. We are having some important conversations on this blog, and that excites me. {As promised, the winners of last week’s give-away of the [...]

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Use Your Voice

In: Blog, growth, truth    65 comments

“As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, ‘No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.’ So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and [...]

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People Are Not Products

In: Blog, truth    29 comments

Behind every front door of a house… …behind every car steering wheel, every counter of a retail store, every sign that says “will work for food” is a real, live person. They bring with them, baggage. They have ideas about the world and many of them have been shaped by what thus far, their world [...]

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Let’s Go

In: Blog, Jesus    35 comments

I emerge from my 30+ day fast renewed, committed and a tad bit, feisty. {You have been forewarned.} Consider this a disclaimer, of sorts…as things on this blog and in this community are about to get serious. As I wrote in my last post, I’m going hard after God this year. And I’m not altogether [...]

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I Want God

In: Blog, spiritual    62 comments

For the next 30 days, my voice on this blog will be silent. It is something I did not go into 2012 intending to do. I do not believe in resolutions any more than I believe God needs a man-made calendar to make anything new. What I do believe in are commitments, surrender, and recognizing [...]

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Every Last Thing

In: Blog, wholeness    7 comments

There is that moment in time when words meant to inspire in mass feel inexplicably personal. It was how things felt on Sunday, when my pastor said this: “Our purpose here on earth is to give our life away.” The 11 words hit my ears and all-at-once I felt like a hoarder…of the parts of [...]

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The Gift of the More

In: Blog, Compassion    1 comment

‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’” {Acts 20:35} There is a place that lives inside all of us…a place that wants more. So when the Christmas lights shine and the mall shops sit, overstuffed…we numbly bow to the gods of commercialism, pretending that the more is about things that come in shiny packages with crisp, [...]

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Bring the Hope

In: Blog, Christmas    2 comments

This is a man I do not know. It is one of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken. I took it while visiting the city of Boston, a melting pot of faces…struggles…souls of those that matter to their Creator. This man I do not know stands on the busy street and speaks Jesus. His approach, [...]

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{w}hole: Brittany’s Story

In: Blog, wholeness    35 comments

Late into the night writing words…I often try to envision who will read them. I cannot see a face, and that frustrates me.  But for their heart I pray, that it will be joined with mine in common threads that only Jesus can tie. And then sometimes, in God’s grace, He lets me see a [...]

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Rest

In: Blog, spiritual    15 comments

Today my fingers rest from typing words. …of seeking to inspire when I, myself, need some inspiration. Sometimes, I don’t respect the need.  I keep going, knowing how badly my mind and heart need rest. But today I will respond, accordingly, knowing that I am not able to serve others well when I haven’t first [...]

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{w}hole: Heather’s Story

In: Blog, wholeness    6 comments

This month on Wednesdays, I will feature some stories behind the readers of {w}hole.  Today, I honor the story of Heather Conrad.  Hers is a story of fear, struggle and eventual acceptance and trust.  You can read more about Heather at the end of the post.  But for now…here are her own words.  May they [...]

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That Which We May Not Know

In: Blog, Uncategorized    6 comments

One hot Houston night, a young father stood up from his padded pew to beg for prayers for his daughter. She was newly born, but far from thriving.  Her middle softspot was closed, and that was not good.  She needs immediate neurosurgery with 2 blood transfusions, so the doctors would tell him. It was the [...]

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What Is and All That Can Be

In: Blog, growth    4 comments

In the quiet settlement of our heart, there are things we wish. I wrote about one of mine, today, over at a Deeper Story — how one of my greatest fears is being misunderstood…and how I wish that weren’t so. I wish other things, too. Some of my wishes are unrealistic. That I will eat [...]

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For those…our Growing Pains Hurt

In: Blog, growth    8 comments

Last Wednesday I posted THIS POST about growing pains.  From the feedback I received from it, I have heard you say that I am not alone. But today, I am mindful…that for every one of us who is journeying through the pains of growth, there are those faithful people who love us enough not to [...]

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