There’s a lot I could do, write, remember, cry over, and give thanks for at the end of 2020. I keep shadowboxing the scary idea of summing it all up— wrestling the last twelve months into a corner and chalking them up as “good,” “terrible,” or “sanctifying” (all the above). But summaries tend to accentuate … Continue reading A Year in Books
For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16). As my church crawled out of quarantine, blinking in the May daylight, I had a run-in with … Continue reading Part Two: Belonging to a Person & People
October 18 I spent my free time last week ripping out the weedy leftovers of my garden. It was hot work because in Missouri, something called Indian Summer has swept away a brisk September. The afternoons warm to eighty degrees, while the trees blush and give away bouquets of leaves. It’s an awkward stage, because … Continue reading Indian Summer
Tucked inside Andrew Peterson’s Adorning the Dark is the story of how his home came to be. It’s my favorite chapter in one of my favorite books, and it starts with this confession: “I was born homesick. Maybe we all were.”[i] I remember listening as Andrew read aloud this chapter (Longing to Belong) in a … Continue reading Part One: Belonging to a Place
Somewhere along this trail I've been hiking called My Writing Journey, I started seeing light filtering through the trees. Instead of staring at the trail (and writing about it), I started looking up (and writing about that). I started seeing shimmers of eternity in the humdrum of the journey. My writing has changed since those … Continue reading Announcing “Home” (A Fall Blog Series)
September 6 My family was supposed to be in Nashville last week, taking part in the Getty Sing! conference. We were supposed to be in the pews of the Ryman Auditorium, drinking in Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God concert and worshiping Jesus with people of different tongues and nations. Instead, we watched it … Continue reading I Wanted to be There
This article was written for and published on StoryWarren.com. Samwise had climbed too many stairs with Shagrat drooling on his heels. He’d blasted through Cirith Ungol’s gates with Galadriel’s light. He’d searched every black corner for Frodo, and now, his master was a tower trapdoor out of reach. So Sam sang nursery rhymes into Mordor. … Continue reading The Song that was Sharper than Sting
August 23 We were made for another world and until Jesus returns, we can’t help but ache for it. C.S. Lewis called that longing sehnsucht (and I write a lot about it). But there’s another part of us that longs for this world, and it’s why James had to write: What causes quarrels and what … Continue reading The Opposite of Sehnsucht
June 7 “Adam had no idea one bite could cause all of this.” Jackie Hill Perry’s latest Instagram photos have exposed the violence, hatred, fire, and war ravaging America right now. Her caption stung me. Violence and hatred and fire and war wouldn’t be ravaging us if Adam hadn’t stooped to join Eve in her … Continue reading “It Will Not Be So in the Mended Wood”
When God made our father and mother out of dust and ribs, he filled their hearts with his perfect presence. It’s why there was no jealousy or idolatry or adultery in Eden. All of man’s cravings were aimed at God and quenched by God. Then Adam and Eve bit a hole into what was forbidden, … Continue reading Eden, Ecclesiastes, and Our Insatiable Appetite
