Know-Love-Obey God

I think of trees and reach up,
wanting to touch green leaves.

I want more than to touch, I want to be
the tree, the kind of tree
that even in soul-scorching heat,
even in the droughts, long droughts, can still
reach down, roots reaching down past
cracked and rainless ground, down
to deep places where water waits
and my leaves remain
green and very [...]

Marriage is not permanent. Even the wedding vow reminds me that the husband-wife commitment is meant to end: “Until death do us part.” Every marriage is guaranteed not to last forever, and it should be that way.
The marriage covenant is not an everlasting one, and death is the deal-breaker. The circle of [...]

Two of our little ones slipped away, never knowing breath in their lungs or air on their pores. After tears, and fears still lingering, I prayed for another and did not have to wait long. Thank God!
But I did not maintain the thankfulness. Twelve weeks into the most physically and emotionally difficult [...]

I stare dumbfounded at the words. I rub my fists over tightly-shut eyes, but when I look again the same words remain. What does it mean?
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…
(all quotes are from James 1:2-4)
Why should I consider trials joy?
The confusion challenges and excites me. [...]

List 1
Poverty.
Hunger.
Weeping.
Being hated.
Insults.
List 2
Financial abundance.
Comfort.
Being well-fed.
Laughter.
Being held in high regard.
Would I prefer List 1 or List 2? Which do I think is better?
**********
Backwards, counterintuitive, upside-down, ridiculous. Sometimes, when I read the Bible, these words come to mind.
I love when that happens! I love those attention-grabbing, initially confusing parts of God’s Word, for [...]