No sooner had I sat down cross-legged on the floor when a three-year-old girl in a floral summer dress plunked herself down into my lap and leaned back against me.     We were at the preschool children’s worship time on Sunday morning. I filled in as a teacher that week, and little Claire had met me for the first time only moments before. But, child that she is, Claire felt the need for the security and reassurance that an adult provides, and she trustingly sought them in me.   I thought of Claire this morning as I read through my devotional journal. It reflects this season in which I...

Father,   The dust chokes me, stifles my breath.   In the lethargy of heat I’ve grown weary: Vigilance receding like water from the creek’s edge. Alertness fading like porch cushions exposed to sun.   Father, forgive me.   O Son who thirsted on the cross that I might drink Living Water,   refill the empty wells of my heart.   Lead me to times of refreshment in the Spirit’s presence, to the sparkling, still waters where Your words are clear and healing. O God who supplies in all seasons, I look to You who restores my soul, who makes me flourish in the wilderness. Cover me...

The grass is dry as hay, the flowers wilting in record-breaking heat. Where I live, we haven’t had rain in at least a month.     That’s why my friend was so disappointed when she told me about the dark clouds and lightning that failed to produce rain one day last week while I was out of town.   But that’s not the only reason she felt disappointed.   The incident, she said, felt like an analogy for her current single season. Just when she thinks the conditions seem right for God to bring a man into her life, nothing happens.   At times, I’ve felt that way myself. Perhaps you...

Iona.     So much wrapped up in one word: Turquoise and cobalt blue waters sparkling against a green island. Ancient monks and their monasteries. The Book of Kells. Christianity and beauty.   And music.   Last night I got to see the band whose music weaves together the mystery of foreign soil and spiritual history, the resplendence of nature and the heart’s hunger for it all in the present moment.   The timing was perfect, because my spirit was thirsty.   I needed everything they offered. Lead singer Jo’s sweet smile and refreshing-as-a-spring voice. Lyrics expressing the...

We’ve all heard them—heartbreaking yet inspiring stories of people whose painful, challenging or unwanted circumstances created a new arena for spiritual ministry.   People like Joni Eareckson Tada, whose quadriplegia became a tool to bring her closer to the Lord and to spread His message of spiritual wholeness to thousands of people.   Or Corrie ten Boom, a never-married woman who lived through Nazi cruelty, injustice and loss, helping others find the love and forgiveness available in Christ.   You can think of others. Their experience was also the Apostle Paul’s, who said, “But I want...