Categories
Devotional

Weeds

Weeds never quit. They sprout on the edges and in the thick of things. 

I pull them out. Easily. Their small roots dangling with dirt. Then I cast them aside in the trash.

The next day, coming back from my walk, I check the state of the yard. Weeds. More of them. 

They are relentless. Through drought and flood. In season and out of season.  Crowding out the chosen plants. 

Wheat and tares in a field in Israel.
Categories
Crossing Cultures Devotional Memoir

Makeshift altar

Our firstborn was 14 weeks old when we moved overseas. En route to Pakistan. 

The week before we left America, I held her close and wept. Quietly. With the door shut. In the bedroom at my in-laws’ home.

I asked the Lord, “What are we doing to our little girl?” 

The weight of leaving what we knew and going to the unknown hit me hard that day as I rocked Becca in my arms. 

But we finished packing our trunks and suitcases. Then boarded the Thai Airways flight across the ocean.

On our way. 1992.
Categories
Devotional Making Disciples

Enter the narrow door

The question lingers through the centuries. Around the world. In religious gatherings. And institutions of learning. City streets. Local hangouts.

And I read it in the Scriptures. The unnamed someone asks Jesus. “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” (Luke 13:23)

Only a few? We hear the concern in our day. Are you saying not everyone goes to heaven? Isn’t that narrow-minded? How can a God of love do that?

Open door. Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash.