Hymn of Grateful Praise

For the beauty of the earth… For the glory of the skies… For the love which from our birth… Over and around us lies… Lord of all to Thee we raise This our hymn of grateful praise. –Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1864 According to Robert Morgan,...

Simply Love

A friend recently wrote me a note of encouragement, which he closed with these words: Keep the main issue the main issue: “The whole point of what we’re urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God.” (1 Timothy...

This Place of Grace

Until three years ago, the glass of my life was always half empty with a hole at the bottom where everything leaked out. Then, during Advent that year, I began to make a gift list. Not a list of gifts I wanted, a list of gifts I already had—and for which I was...

Two Thousand

Since writing this post a year and a half ago, I’ve penned another 1000+ things for which I’m thankful; I’m re-running this post because reading it reminded me again why the list matters, why numbering it is helpful, why I need to keep writing down...

Language Lessons

1. “Would you be willing to speak at our Stephen Ministry meeting?” Linda’s message on my voicemail surprises me. “We’d like you to talk about gratitude.” I have a testimony to prepare for the whole congregation. I have blog posts...