Daring to be Restless

Stalker – noun – a person who stealthily hunts or pursues an animal or another person.   We joke a lot about stalkers around here.   Facebook stalkers.   Friends who join us/run into us almost everywhere we go.   Silly things mostly.   And most of us, if we were honest, would admit that in some way or another we also stalk someone else.   We “follow” people on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.   We know far more about their lives than they’ve ever told us in person, with very little effort at relationship on our part.   My family goes so far as to sing parts of the song “Turn Around, Look at Me,” when we’re creeping up behind each other.   But how often do we consider what might be stalking us spiritually?   What may be following us in realms unseen? The Bible actually has a lot to say about spiritual stalkers. Of course, there are good stalkers, things like those mentioned in Psalm 23:6.   The Word on the Street Paraphrase says it this way, “I know that your good, y

Last year at this time, my sister and I had just decided to go to Russia for the first time.  We had just taken the risk, filled out our applications and begun the process to go to Russia. We had no idea.  We had no idea all that God was going to do.  We had no idea how hard we would fall in love -                      with the children,                                   with the culture and people of St. Petersburg,                                              with our team. So, prayerfully, we are beginning 2014 with the determination to go back, to open our hearts a little bit wider,  to expect our God to move a little bigger, to help us connect a little deeper, and break our hearts a little bit more for the purposes of God across the globe, and not just in our own little world.  As we go, if you'd like to pray for us and stand with us, please consider helping us fundraise. For the next sixteen days, we are selling these T-Shirts: https://www.booster.com/sisters_i

It’s the night before Christmas, the culmination of the season.   For weeks, we have been surrounded by Santa Clauses and reindeer, with gifts and Christmas Trees, with clichéd Christmas songs and ugly sweaters.   And if we aren’t careful, in this climate of materialism and showmanship, the Christmas story could easily become simply another part of the season, like a fairytale or folk story, like a Disney movie, where everyone lives “happily ever after” and you can almost “feel a song coming on” every few minutes. The baby Jesus could become a figurine like Rudolph to be set on a shelf and admired, part of a story to be told and laughed at in all its absurdities.    But the beauty of the Christmas story isn’t in its “fairytale” simplicity.   It is in the gritty realities of God’s plan of salvation, in the way that God stepped into our brokenness. Think of it, our Savior entered into … -           The confusing and awkward life of a teenager .   By all accounts, Mary w

I’ve just finished watching the movie Inception … again.   I love it – for all of its complication and intrigue, its difficulties, its agonies, and the way it wrestles with realities too difficult for us to grasp.   As complex as the film is, though, it can be simplified to revolve around a single hypothetical question – what would the world be like if we could consciously share our dreams with others, or, with more sinister intentions, invade the dreams of others to plant ideas or steal them?   It sounds a bit heady, and I won’t lie - it is extremely sobering to watch the life-altering possibilities play out on screen,   to watch life-courses forever changed for the better or for the worse – but it reminded me so much of our walk with God.    “Inception,” the word itself means, “an act, process, or instance of beginning,” with synonyms like “genesis” and “creation.”   In the film, “inception” is a complicated process of invading another person’s dreams to plant an idea.   F

I can’t sleep.   I’ve tried.   But I’m in love.   With 1 Peter 5.   It’s ringing in the ears of my heart, keeping me up, stirring me up, causing relief and hope to surge within me … and I can’t afford to sleep.   To lose it.   To minimize it.   I can’t afford not to share it.  The chapter, though I’ve probably read it dozens of times, has come alive to me in ways that I have never seen before.   Tonight, at a different stage in life and with a clarity brought on by a recent mission trip – the verses seem almost woven together for me.   For you.   Because I don’t know about you, but lately, I’ve been feeling drained, like my heart has been under attack, and like I have nothing left to give.   I imagine, if you’ve been a Christian for very long, you probably understand that feeling.   And that’s what I’m in love with about 1 Peter 5.   Here’s the beginning of the chapter, so you understand my excitement about verse 10.   You see, the chapter begins with the assurance that Paul w