• mud and hurricane
    Houston - Hurricane Harvey - Loss

    Of Hurricanes, Houston, and Loss: Reflections on a Rough Week

    - By 

    I live just outside Houston. I moved here eight months ago and fell in love with my neighborhood in Katy, and with the big city itself. Houston is where sophistication wears cowboy boots, and food snobs drive around in big trucks. And now Houston is the focus of national attention for all the wrong reasons. Hurricane Harvey left his water calling card, and now thousands are homeless. My home is untouched. A little water down the fireplace and a lot of tree branches is the extent of our damage. One mile away, across the swollen creek, homes are standing in…

  • use
    Bondage

    God Doesn’t Want to Use You; Why You Need to Stop Asking

    - By 

    The title sounds harsh, but as I see it, presenting God as a deity who will use His children to further His ends heads down a dangerous slope. I am not judging Christians who like to say this phrase. For most, I am sure it comes from a place of wanting to be a part of what God is doing. I want to be a part of what God is doing, too. But I definitely don’t want to be used. At first, I thought my dislike of this phrase had to do with my narcissistic ex-husband, and undoubtedly it does.…

  • Hem of His Garment
    Featured

    3 Instructions on How to Touch the Hem of His Garment

    - By 

    Today is the day to come to Jesus and touch the hem of His garment. Isolation, from others or from God, due to negative emotions such as shame or grief, often leave us enduring a kind of perpetual anxiety. We need contact with God and with others in order to feel safe and loved.  The story of the woman with the issue of blood is a case in point.  She was ‘unclean’ due to the physical issue she suffered.  Ritual impurity is not something we identify with in our society, but the aspect of shame and isolation is.  Our negative…