simply me and jeans

I was at Starbucks for 2 hours today trying to make progress on this book we’re writing. That didn’t happen. Instead, I spent an hour talking to a young man about college, how tired he was, trying to encourage him and another hour trying to get my computer to work. Because I’d lost all focus, […]

There are seasons in our lives that God uses to change us and teach us things we may not otherwise have seen.  We don’t usually plan for those seasons and they’re seldom enjoyable, but they’re gifts of grace none the less. A few people have asked me how I’m doing after the events of the […]

I can’t sleep. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve become accustomed to little sleep over the last 4 weeks or if it’s something else. I grab my headphones and turn on some worship music as I lie in the dark.  Surely I’ll fade into rest soon enough. But I don’t. There hasn’t been a […]

  The last three weeks have been crazy! They’ve not only been the darkest and loneliest weeks of my life but also the most powerful and  impactful time of my life.  I know that’s contradictory.  The whole journey has been a picture of contradiction.  Death and life.  Faith and fear. Solitude and support. Waiting and […]

As I walked back to the hotel tonight, I passed the workers setting up for the Sunday market and suddenly realized we have been in Paris more than a week.  Last Sunday we bought some bread, cheese and veggies and had a solemn picnic in the park before going to see how Steve was doing […]

Youthful ignorance saw myself as average.  A pretty vessel that could be used by the master but was just as easily left on the shelf as an addition to His collection or passed over in favor of the beautiful vases with curved necks and golden engravings.  Acceptable but not extraordinary. Experience proved myself to be […]

I’ve found so many beautiful new songs lately that I haven’t turned my Spotify off for days.  It’s playing all the time and I often fall asleep with earphones in and the timer set.  Randomly shuffling through my worship playlist excites me because, more often than not, God will choose a song to convict me, […]

Music touches the core of who I am and can speak truth into places that are cold and hard to the influence of anything else. It melts me, inspires me, heals me, encourages me, fills me with joy, with gratitude, with power, with memories and with praise for someone much greater than   the circumstances around […]

I was sitting on the front porch swing this morning like I normally do when it’s not 110 degrees.  Suddenly, my dog, “Stupid”, ran off after a squirrel.  She’s cute as a bug and tiny, but she thinks she’s as big as our German Shepherd.  She’s also…. #1 not named “Stupid”, #2 Not very smart […]

I’ve been praying for light lately.  Light that reveals truth.  Light that gives direction. Light that chases away darkness.  I’ve been praying that we would recognize God’s light, that we would be drawn to it, comforted by it, changed in it and inspired to shine it regardless of the darkness we might find ourselves in. […]