February 24, 2023.Reading time 18 minutes.
Darkness settles over harvested Tennessee corn fields. I’m lying in my bed, the random February heatwave warming my room and keeping me wide awake—or is it something else that holds sleep from my tired mind? Yes, for weeks, Arizona and my time spent in those high desert canyons on the Indian reservation is fresh on […]
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April 7, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.
Its evening when seven-year-old Ena shows up at our door. She comes over a lot when there’s nothing else for her to do. She was adopted by relatives in an attempt to give her a better home. But her new family proves to be a challenging situation also full of pain and darkness. Nineteen-year-old sister […]
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April 6, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.
Somewhere in the back of my sleep deprived mind, the soft melody of my alarm pries me from my sleep. My throat burns; I rub my eyes. Another week has slapped me in the face without much of a warning. Dragging my sick, exhausted body from my bed, I amble to the kitchen to find […]
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January 28, 2022.Reading time 3 minutes.
High desert storms—grey skies, cold winds, red dust everywhere. With the rainy season long past, it’s no longer necessary to roll up towels under the door to soak up the torrent of rain leaking in. It’s now about somehow sealing off the rush of freezing air pouring through the swamp cooler. And the dust? There’s […]
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January 10, 2022.Reading time 4 minutes.
It’s been a long while since I dared to pick up the pen and let the ink run. This season has been one of heavy silence—one where the words come slow, where words, most days, simply can’t be found. It’s been a time of earnest fighting to hold onto the last shreds of hope. Days […]
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September 26, 2021.Reading time 4 minutes.
Grey skies leak and soak into the thirsty, red soil of the desert mesa. My thoughts circulate and spin. On this drizzly Sunday afternoon in the high deserts of Arizona, I ponder what He’s been whispering to me these recent weeks and months. I’ve been traveling this winding path called life. It’s taken me through […]
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September 13, 2021.Reading time 5 minutes.
It’s been long since I pinned words to paper, since I set aside moments to let my thoughts flow–but there’s a little something I’ve been learning here in the desert, here in the middle of serving, of giving, that I must let the ink run. I’m not going to give an account of glorious miracles, […]
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September 7, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.
Courage. It’s a word that’s been floating around my head these days, a word He quietly spoke to me saying, “this My child, is My word for you right now.” Some say courage is David come to meet Goliath, come to kill his giant. Some say courage is Martin Luther nailing the thesis to the […]
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August 10, 2021.Reading time 3 minutes.
God, I have no idea what I’m doing here! I’m so unqualified! I inwardly groaned. But I’m here…so do something crazy! I begged. For the first time in my life, I stepped into the classroom — not as a student, but as a part-time teacher. *** Sitting at his desk and engrossed in a world […]
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