For His Glory

             "Clowns are the Pegs on Which the Circus is Hung."  P.T. Barnum At one time or another everyone feels like a "clown." Whether in the throws of puberty, speaking publicly, waddling around nine months pregnant, skin color, being held prisoner by addiction, or simply being different as followers of Jesus. But there's another group; an entire subculture who truly are viewed as "freaks"; those who suffer from diseases such as dwarfism, Vitiligo, Microcephaly, Tetra-Amelia Syndrome, or albinism.  These very people were the ones whom the inventor of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Mr. Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum not only pursued, but embraced. His life's work was to seek the marginalized, give them opportunity to travel, use their talents, earn amazing wages, and become someone they never would have been without the promotion of the circus. Don't we all imagine a day when someone like P.T. Barnum will come ou...

THE PROBLEM: Ugg...Health! Unfortunately, this is a topic near and dear to my thighs. *and has been all my life* Can I get a witness? Words of wellness and weight, the cultural oxymoron of the 21st century; they leave us longing for Ketogenic results on a McDonald's budget. It's happened to us all; what we imagined would be a fun-filled afternoon at the mall tragically ends as our image-doused brains replay sights of unattainable perfection that point their gnarly fingers of condemnation at each of our imperfections. From the plastic models displaying clothes as they should look on us, to plastered images of smiling beauties who embody the fullness of life as they flaunt their curves in all the right places. It's frustration station at it's finest. All the while our fake smile allows us to pretend the closing in of millions in advertising dollars ain't got nothin' on us. Once the perfection of it all saturates us to the point of nausea, we decide to leave....

Have you ever been abandoned, left alone, hurt, or forgotten by someone you trusted?  Abandonment manifests in a countless relationships. A Facebook friend recently shared an article entitled  "Day Care Centers Adapt to Round the Clock Demand" . Sadly, it told the lonely truth for children that, "Day care is slowly becoming night care in today’s economy, as parents work ever longer days, take on second jobs, and accept odd shifts to make ends meet." After reading the article, I wasn't sure if I felt more empathetic toward the parents or the children. I knew there was a blog post embedded in this concept, but what did it have to do with living a life with Jesus? About that same time, I was reading  The Father Heart of God   by Floyd McClung Jr. On page 100 he says, We made the mistake of "adopting out" our converts to churches and leaders who were not their spiritual fathers and mothers. It just didn't work. They didn...

The twilight had nearly passed when the streets began morphing into overnight bunkhouses. The streets of downtown Portland, Oregon looked nothing like a few hours previous. People who had found themselves homeless for the evening crept subtly into position, vying for prime location in the weather protected nooks of otherwise elite business storefronts - just enough room for a sleeping bag, meager possessions, and a pet of companion and protection. About the time I'd noticed the population was transforming into a different demographic, my gaze was drawn toward a young woman settled curbside for the evening. She sat hunched over, hair in her face, drawing and writing in a journal. I shimmied my toes up as close to her blanket as I could get without invading her territory. Every possession so exposed. As I crouched down to speak with her I quickly noticed she didn't lift her head when she spoke back. "Penny. My name is Penny," she said in a curt, raspy, I've ...

Everyone Wants to be a Winner Recently, the AAU basketball team my husband coaches and our son plays on won the Oregon State Championship. They were recognized as the number one team in their age group (5th/6th) and division. It was a joyous time as we all celebrated their victory. Some of us, i.e. me, cried tears of mixed emotion as the relief that the season was finally over intertwined with the letdown that the season was now officially over. Many players' faces were also filled with tears as the thought of another season ending overcame their emotions.  So much of our lives are invested in the team and each other. We are really a family. We have traveled together five months out of the year for four years now. We laugh together, we cry together, we go broke together. It's great! But in all sincerity it's a very unique bond we share. As adults we understand that what we have as a team and family of parents and grandparents is once in a lifetime amazing. ...

WHY DOES THIS THEME - BOLD - KEEP TURNING UP EVERYWHERE  I GO????? WHEN IT STARTED: A few months ago our church had their annual winter conference. This year it was entitled Bold . If you don't believe me here is a picture of the bulletin from that conference: I didn't think anything of it. About that same time the Lord was working out all the details of my birthday trip to California for a Christian writer's conference (for those of you who have been following my posts I'm leaving for the conference in three days and I'm beyond excited. See  Dreams  post from earlier about the exciting ways God worked to make a dead dream resurrect. See future posts on how Jesus will take a resurrected dream and breathe life into it like only He can). When I went to register for the conference I saw this picture: That's right, people, I'm about to embark on another encounter with the same theme. I'm sure those of you who still believe in coin...

"God said of the lights in the sky, 'Let them be fore signs and seasons'" Genesis 1:14 Every morning while I'm in the shower I listen to a Tony Evans podcast. He is a pastor in Dallas, Texas, and has an app called The Urban Alternative.  He recently did a series on faith. In his sermon entitled, Slow of Heart to Believe Parts I and II    Link to the Podcast  he talked about something that relates to the wrap up of this series on the Gospel and the Zodiac. "What God wants to know after you have heard the Word is do you want Him? There's a disconnect in people's lives between Jesus on Sunday and the rest of the week... I am going to make a statement that may sound like heresy, but you will understand as we go along; the Bible is not enough. I believe in the inerrantcy of the Bible and that it is the Word of God from cover to cover. But like the pharisees, if you have the Bible and miss the Lord nothing will happen...the Scripture leads to a perso...