It’s often said, “revenge is a dish best served cold.” But is the proverb true? Not in my experience. The truth is somewhat different: Revenge is a dish that poisons the cook. The desire to take revenge on someone who has hurt or betrayed you can fill your nostrils with a scent more heady than fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. It wraps you in imagined responses from the people/person who caused your pain. Perhaps they will be ashamed—cinnamon folded into the…
The first sunny Sunday in September after my birth, Mom and Dad trundled me off to the church my father pastored in Dayton, Ohio. They started a habit I’ve kept my entire life. I married a minister. I teach Sunday school, and I play the piano in morning worship. But I was 31 years old before I truly believed God loved me. Why? I developed an orphan heart. I saw God not as a loving father an—“Abba, Daddy”…
“It hurts so good!” This common expression highlights the contrast between pain and pleasure. Most people are hard-wired to avoid pain at any cost. But sometimes that which causes pain is also productive. A pastor I know left behind a little black binder with notes he made during more than 50 years of ministry. At a denominational conference in 1959 (the Ohio Yearly Meeting of Friends, a.k.a. Quakers) he wrote this quote from Paul Rees, the speaker: “There…
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24 Resentment began to grow in my heart like an ugly weed. It had been more than a year since my husband had been forced to resign from ministry in a church he had pastored for…
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms…” Deut. 33:27a I collapsed on the floor of the hotel room, prostrate and weeping before God in prayer. Dale and I were just about to receive an answer to twelve years of petitions before God. Wouldn’t one think that would be easy? It wasn’t. The quest to become a mother had been difficult. For twelve years I had sought the help of doctors, undergone tests and…