Prayer
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When You Face Tough Truth, Let Joy Make You Strong
“You need to put your armor on. You’re going out there spiritually naked.” Ouch. Spiritually naked? Me? I had just confided to a ministry veteran that I was battling terrible doubts and anxiety every time I shared my writing online. Tottering out there on my “social media platform,” I had perpetual stage fright magnified…
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healing prayer when past pain roars back to life
Ever have an emotional hurt from the past explode to the surface at a weird time? Take the infamous “Tamale Incident” at our house. One night as I transferred tamales from bubbling steamer pot to platter, my kitchen tongs betrayed me. Corn wrappers began unraveling and the tongs started slicing through the super-heated corn meal…
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3 ways to transform “thoughts and prayers” into substance
Since last week’s shooting, I’ve vacillated between grief and anger like pretty much everybody I know. I’ve fist-pumped at impactful posts only to despair at online arguments that are more about blame-shifting than truth-seeking. One trending idea that’s caught my attention is that politicians will once again offer only “thoughts and prayers” but no real…
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Keep Waiting and Be Brave
On Saturday I waited in a crowd at the airport International Arrivals gate. Our numbers grew, as did our wait time, but we weren’t unhappy. True, we were all a bit anxious—various members of our group kept popping up onto our toes and craning our necks to see down the corridor—but it was the good…