In Gennesaret

She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. (Luke 13) So Jesus heals her . . . and of course, I know Luke is talking about a physical healing here. But that’s not where my mind went when Brother Mike read this scripture in the service last Sunday. Because the sentence before this one describes her as a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. And oh, friend – do I know women (and men) who are crippled by spirits . By spirits of INFERIORITY: “She’s so much better at this than I am . . . he should have this job instead of me . . . everyone knows I don’t belong here . . .” By spirits of INCOMPETENCE: “I keep messing up . . . I will never get this right . . . I have no idea what I’m doing . . . I am never good enough.” By spirits of INADEQUACY: “I’m not enough of a businessman to run this department . . .I’m not enough of a disciplinarian to raise my kids right . . . I’m not enough of a woman to make him happy . . . I am never enough .” Sp...

There was a ten-day period in 2006 when God and I were not on speaking terms. That is, I  was not speaking to God . I literally stood in front of my bathroom mirror every morning, looked at the ceiling, scowled angrily, and spat, "I am NOT talking to YOU today!!!" And by golly, I did not . I don't need to detail what was going on at the time that led me to this behavior -- it was big stuff. But I suspect most of you have had these moments, yes? Maybe not quite that level of anger, or for quite that length of duration, but yeah -- mad at God. If you haven't experienced that, you're lucky. Well . . . maybe you're lucky. Okay, actually, maybe not. Cuz here's the thing: I ultimately grew closer  to God through those ten days of angry pouting. This was the most real and honest I had ever been with him. This was the biggest chance I had ever taken with our relationship -- believing that I could intentionally walk away and he would still be there when I walked ba...

Thanks to my daughter doing . . . well, doing something, I have no idea what . . . I have been getting a Southern Living magazine with her name on it delivered to my house each month. For free. For nearly a year now, I think. Being a pretty thrifty woman (read: cheap ), I am generally not one to complain about anything given to me at no cost. But . . . Have you seen Southern Living magazine? Or one of its sisters (there is apparently a family of these periodicals including Midwest Living and Coastal Living )? My mother had a Southern Living subscription. It’s definitely a Wilma Poland kind of magazine. Full of beautiful pictures of beautiful places (and information for traveling there), beautiful homes with beautiful gardens (and how to recreate them), beautiful food on beautiful plates and tables (and the recipes for making it all), that kind of thing. When I get one of these magazines, I set it aside for a bit until I find a few minutes to thumb through it, and that’s the ex...

I have the most outrageously unrealistic goal for my life. Something I’ve noticed over the years that y’all may have noticed as well: old people tend to get mean. They say things to people that they would never have said aloud twenty, thirty, forty years ago. “Well, she sure ain’t the cook her mother was.” “Oh, that boy’s never had a lot of sense, you know.” “Are you still married to that weird guy with the ears that stick out?” This is particularly a problem if their hearing is going as well and they don’t realize how loudly they’re speaking at church when the organ suddenly stops playing and their voice is echoing from the baptistry to the AV booth. “Well, who the h-ll dressed the preacher this mornin’? Sakes alive, that’s a godawful tie . . .” Even my mother fell victim to this phenomenon . . . and people, my mother was just about the sweetest human being to walk the planet. In high school, one of my friends had a contest going with herself whenever she called my house and my ...