By all accounts I was a bright kid. But math was always my downfall. The problem was, I understood it as a zero sum game. And that works great it you need to divide the last pizza into equal parts or allocate funds to different budget categories. But that math has it’s limits, because it’s […]
Porcelain? Or Silk?
Without realizing it, my heart developed a self image. Subconsciously, I saw my own heart as made of porcelain. An exquisite object, weighty with glory. And shattered. It was shattered. An ex-patriot since infancy, everywhere I’ve ever lived, shards of my heart were elsewhere. As I’ve lived and loved in far flung places, more and […]
From Before the Beginning
Most of us imagine God starting from scratch, creating the heavens and the Earth from nothing. But when you read the Genesis account, it’s not that there was nothing. There was all this stuff. It’s just that it was all a waste. This might seem depressing at first, but I think this glimpse into the […]
An Open Letter to Myself, on my Birthday
There you are. You beautiful thing you. Someone wanted you dead before you were even born. Still, here you are. Not in spite of suffering, or out of spite toward everyone who accused and betrayed you. No. You’re soft. Curious. Receptive. You don’t give your heart in pieces. You give your blazing, expansive heart, bursting […]
“Give Me the Body”
He held the slight form with uncharacteristic gentleness, his eyes locked on her tiny face. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected from this kid. But it still caught me by surprise when he said, “I don’t mean to insult you, but why do we have to wait for her to be beautiful? Tikva (his […]
The Gospel isn’t a Thing Anymore
Recently we sat down with a ministry couple we have a deep appreciation for. We all expressed concern that the gospel we were taught isn’t the same gospel Jesus preached. Then a few days ago, I was invited to speak on the urgency of the gospel. Those words “urgency of the gospel” instantly sparked this […]
For the Love of Pickled Limes
Two years ago our family spent a month in Jerusalem. It was the longest stretch I’d spent there since my infancy, the fulfillment of a life-long dream, and a tragic disappointment. We arrived just as a new wave of violence erupted. We heard the sirens when a nearby synagogue was attacked. The door of our […]
Forget Jerusalem
“How can we sing the LORD’S song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.” An impossibly thin silver chain […]
The Cloud
For several months, a cloud followed me everywhere, and darkened every sky above me. Which was strange, because the cloud was thousands of miles from anywhere I’d ever stood. Still it did cover me, awake or asleep. It was a cloud of ash, born out of a volcano I’d never seen. We’d been invited to […]
Fool for Love
What’s your superpower? I always struggled to figure out that one thing I was ridiculously good at. It sounds selfish, and maybe it is…a little. Mostly that desire was born out of a much deeper desire to bring God’s kingdom. I’m still settling in to this realization: my superpower is letting my heart be broken, […]