Arise Blog
Vines & Vineyards
Clearing a Field
God invites us where we are.
A song, a parable, a looking, and a disappointing moment. Does this sound like a normal day? We awake in the morning after a good night of sleep with a song. Then a few hours of moving about our day we hit a lesson (parable), right? At some point, we hopefully pause for lunch and look back over our morning to see how we're doing and then forward to see how much…
Vines & Vineyards
God invites us where we are.
Recently I was sharing with a friend that life can feel like seasonal patterns, and in a similar way our spiritual journey does as well. Not only do we experience the outward patterns of seasons but also the places of our interior whereby our life with God can feel like fall, winter, spring or summer. And sometimes a mix of two.
At times in our lives we may experience what feels like fall —the season where…
The Coffee Shop: gratitude
God invites us where we are.
Drew Jackson’s poetry keeps seeping into my morning’s sometimes even in the afternoon’s. I’ll take it anytime. Reading the poem, To Be a Realist had to be read at least three times much like a Lectio Divina rhythm. I love how each of his poems flow from a passage of Scripture. This one came out of the overflow of Jairus’ daughter's miracle. Jesus came to his house leaving the crowds to bring…
The Coffee Shop: Peculiar
God invites us where we are.
On a recent Sunday afternoon, my grandson was over at our house, and he remembered hiding Easter eggs several months ago in the backyard. He asked to hunt eggs like at Easter time. I was delighted he had enjoyed the egg hunt so much to ask for it again. This was good timing, I had two hard boiled eggs I made the day before in the refrigerator. I smiled and said, “What a fun idea!” “I’ll go get the eggs and you stay inside to wait until…