It has been a good year for raspberries. The patch in my backyard is bursting with deep pink, and every day I find more scrumptious mouthfuls to be harvested. Over the past two weeks I have spent hours in my patch, trying to keep up with the abundance. And as I pick, I have been trying to pray. I am searching for God in my raspberry patch. My search has been fervent, because recently I’ve
My thoughts are scattered, My tongue can't speak. My knees don't bend, And my heart is weak. But help me, Father, Like sky and tree, In every moment Live a prayer to Thee. My climbing out of bed, Praise Your Name. My putting on the kettle, A confession of my need. My coming and my going, Thank you Lord. My texts and emails, Supplication for my friends. My stirring at the stove, Meditation on
Today was a good day . . . at least, I’m on my way to believing it was. A year ago I would have labelled this same day a disaster because I didn’t cross a single thing off my list. Maybe that doesn’t sound disastrous to you, but I struggle with an addiction to getting things done. I am the queen of lists, the princess of projects, and I revel in the never-ending quest to
Father of all, You love me wide as the world, and You still have space to love every other an equal span. So Your love wraps round this earth seven billion times over. I want my love to go the distance too. But I confess I’m caught in my own tiny world; caring most about the things I can see, taste, and touch. Caring most about myself. The seven billion others an afterthought,
Three months ago, I gave birth to a little baby boy named Levin. His arrival threw my world into a blender; my regular habits of sleeping, working, and socializing were all shook up. As such, the FV blog had a bit of a hiatus this summer. But don’t fret, I’ve gotten used to a new normal and am getting the blog back in business. You can expect regular posts from here on in. I know
I asked Matt Stone to write an entry for this blog in November last year, just a few days before his lung collapsed for the first time. I imagined that writing might be a good avenue for his usually-quiet self to share about his past experience with illness and suffering, and his relationship with God along the way. I thought we’d all be blessed to hear some of his insight. Of course, I let him
This year for the season of Lent, I have taken on a spiritual discipline that Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity call “Adoration.” It basically means taking one hour out of every day to spend time in the presence of God. When I volunteered with the Sisters of Charity in Kolkata, India last year, I practiced Adoration alongside the Sisters each day at 5pm. The practice refreshed me, and brought me into a closer walk with
I became a member of Forestview’s Global Missions Team last year, mostly accidentally. You see, I wanted to write a blog about being a global missionary from home, so I turned to the Global Missions Team as a resource. After attending one meeting, my name was written down in the meeting minutes as a member . . . and since I didn’t want to let the team down, I just kept coming back. At first,
Lately I’ve been busy trying to do everything. I’ve been writing these hair-brained lists of callings that I think are important for me as a Christian: be diligent at work, maintain close relationships with Christian friends, evangelize, exercise, read my Bible, serve the Church, and the list goes on and on. On top of that, I want to be a global missionary (afterall, I’m writing a blog on the topic). So, at the end of
I think that true compassion for our poor brothers and sisters around the world begins with the willingness to be with them. Think about the people you know who advocate most ardently and give most generously to downtrodden people around the world. Haven’t they usually spent time abroad, developing real relationships with people in need? Of course! And even more, they have been willing to take on some measure of poverty themselves, in order to
