We will have trouble

I'm slowly but surely "finding my way" back to God's Word. What a mindless phrase for me to have picked out, "finding my way." It's silly and in this case, not at all true. It if were me and me alone, I never would come back to the Word. I would run far away and…

Choose Life

Most often, when we hear that phrase, we immediately and only think of the pro-life fight. We implore expectant mothers to choose life for their young one. We encourage the elderly to choose life for themselves and their loved ones.  This, however, is a small aspect of such a powerful command.  "I call heaven and…

God of all Comfort

Dear friends of mine are experiencing tragic loss and suffering right now, and I've been feeling helpless. What words can I give that will bring comfort? Nothing I say will ease the pain they are feeling. Nothing I say can take away the tragedy and sorrow.  In this state of helplessness, when we're watching a…

Man, Wife, & God

Oops. It's been a month since I last posted... Summer sabbatical? I'm going to try really hard to keep writing over the summer, but thus far, I have failed. I just got back to my parents' house (where I'll be settling in until August) from a quick trip to Ohio to visit Miguel's family and a wedding.…

Pray Continually

I recently wrote a post on babbling in prayer and how I often did that in order to fill my prayer time. As I learned not to do this, and pray with intention in each word, I learned better how to pray continually. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is…

Ash Wednesday

I took two pictures this week: not worthy of a Wordless Wednesday post, so I decided to skip it this week. Instead, I'm writing on Ash Wednesday because that's what today is. It's the kick off to the Lenten season, the 40 days before Easter (not counting Sundays). Why do I celebrate Ash Wednesday? Ash…

You Shall Have No Other Gods

I started reading Matthew Harrison's Why am I Joy:fully Lutheran? this morning, and I got to page 13 (the second page of the first chapter) before I had to stop and think over the actions in my own life. This book is subtitled "Instruction, Meditation, and Prayers on Luther's Small Catechism," and in it, Harrison…

Come, Lord Jesus

Some days I get overwhelmed by the sin in the world. I opened my Facebook today while I was on hold on a phone call and scrolled through to kill time. I was hit with three stories of girls who were sexually assaulted by grown men whom they should have been able to trust. Earlier…

Even When

Sin is this nasty, ugly, despicable horror that we all have to fight. Every day is a constant battle against sin and the powers of Satan and his minions. More often than not, we lose. Luther nailed it (funny, right?) when he labeled us as sinners and saints at the same time. Every day we…

How Not to Comfort a Loved One

There's sin in the world. We know this. It sucks. I wish there wasn't sin. Someday, Jesus will come back, and the sin will be gone. But until then, we have sin. And because of that sin, we have suffering. We have hurricanes and crime and death. We have hurt. I've had two miscarriages, and…