Category: Books

How Curious is Your Faith?

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Only eight hours after arriving in South Carolina, I found myself nestled in a semi circle of brand new friends. As we sat in the booth and shared stories of who we are, where we came from and how God orchestrated our being at this Allume conference for the first time, our hearts truly connected.

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Not only did I meet some fantastic new writer friends, I also picked up about thirty books to accompany me back home. One of those books was Curious Faith, written by the leader of Allume, Logan Wolfram.

About a month later, when life returned to the valley after the mountain top experience of this conference, I cracked open this beautiful book.

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Logan had me at the first page when she said, “It’s not blinking….the heart isn’t blinking….There was no flutter of a heartbeat on the screen in front of me. Only stillness.”

The baby she hoped to one day hold, had gone to the arms of Jesus.

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Triggers

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Normally, I like to stay away from “How-To” books. They seem to stifle my creative nature, but also because, I long to follow a formula that looks nice and neat, tying life in a pretty bow. So, when the title promises me 5 Guaranteed Ways to Grow a Happy Family in 3 Easy Steps, it sounds appealing as I imagine my darling children all neatly dressed with ironed pants, smiling at me even when I tell them No.

Inwardly I want that book. I want to follow those 3 Easy Steps and obtain the advertised results. But I’ve tried to follow the 3 easy step philosophies and claim my overnight success as a parent and….failed.

I quickly thought about this glitch of mine when Wendy Speake Brunner asked me to read and share in the launch of her and Amber’s new book, Triggers.

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Walking Away a Winner

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It’s that time again…

Lent season.

The other morning while we were all getting ready for the day, I asked Adam if he had noticed the theme of Lent popping up frequently.

He said, “Zach mentioned he noticed more lent accumulating on top of the dryer these days.”

I was brushing my teeth when he said that and I nearly blasted toothpaste on the bathroom mirror.

Trying to regain my seriousness, I said, “Well, do you feel God leading you to give up anything to listen to Him?”

“Fasting,” he replied, regaining his air of sarcasm, and clearly avoiding the subject.

“Fasting?,” I repeated, drying off my mouth.

“Yes, you know, fasting from fasting.”

“Ha!” I responded. “So glad we could have this conversation. I have to take the kids to school now,” I said with a smile and walked out of the bathroom.

As I drove, I pondered our conversation, for I love Adam’s sarcastic sense of humor. It perfectly balances out my tendency to over think just about everything.

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No More Secrets Preview

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As I flung open the door, my childhood best friend stood before me, handcuffed to a chair. The man who had captured her shouted for me to leave, or else. I left. Immediately, I entered a large, open parking lot. A stranger standing beside the only truck around flagged me down. Cautiously, I approached. He explained there were more in similar troubles. “People everywhere are being taken captive under heavy guard,” he said. I spent the remainder of the night barging into churches, grocery stores, shopping malls, and camping trailers locating these captives, but I had no way to set them free.

Finally, I woke up.

The smell of sweat had stained my night clothes, but I was thankful it was just a dream. I tried to forget about it and get on with my morning. I hadn’t even finished breakfast before I realized: that first captive may have looked like my best friend, but it was really me.

God was about to knock on the door of my heart with a trash can, a broom, and a mop, ready to come in and do some major cleaning. What happened over the next twelve months changed me forever. The days ran together. The nights were long. Sometimes I couldn’t eat. It may look neat and tidy written on paper, all properly spaced and edited beneath a chapter title, but believe me—in real time, it was messy.

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