• mercy
    Featured - Spiritual Gifts

    Five Truths about the Gift of Mercy

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    The gift of mercy is a rough gig. I used to say that all women go around with a broken heart. I projected this particular spiritual gift onto everyone because my heart regularly aches for those around me. It didn’t occur to me that not everyone’s heart does. Now I realize that almost anyone with the gift of mercy carries a heart wounded on behalf of others. And I also know now that not everyone has this gift. The world would be a quite different place if they did, and not necessarily better. But as is the case with any…

  • son
    Featured

    My Son is Alive: How God Kept His Promise

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    I’ll never forget the day my journey towards my son started. I was with my sister-in-law Amy in her depressing little studio apartment, and I had just used her bathroom. When I came out, it suddenly dawned on her that I had seen a pregnancy test box. She confessed her secret to me: she was pregnant. Now, you have to understand something about me. I have never been a baby person. I love kids, but babies used to bore me. I think it’s because they can’t talk or walk or really do anything, so I just have a hard time…

  • cocoon
    Cocoon - Dark Night of the Soul - Featured

    How to Tell if You Are in a Cocoon Phase

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    We Christians often like to talk about transformation, but the cocoon phase of that process is less glamorous. The Bible spills over with stories about men and women in cocoons of one sort or another. The message each time is the same. Some metamorphosis happens fast, but more often than not, change takes some time. The growth required to move from caterpillar to butterfly fascinates me. I remember as a child finding an exotic caterpillar in my backyard. I put it in a small plastic container with food and a stick. Soon a greyish sack, smooth on one side and…