You matter to God
A look into the story of Jesus, Jairus, and the unclean woman.
The old man catches me in the back of the sanctuary, where I’m straightening church bulletins, pencils and childrens’ Quiet Bags. He shuffles his feet, asks how Bible memory is going for the Sunday School children. But perhaps he’s asking if I’m hiding verses in my soul, too? His name is Helmer. He’s…
It was just after dawn on Sunday morning. I was washing raspberries at the kitchen sink, and thinking ahead to Monday. My friend Paula had spent the weekend with us, and when she came into the kitchen, she startled me with her gasp. “Jennifer!” she cried out. “Look. Look outside!” I lifted my eyes to see what Paula saw, while the water…
I ask the world’s most obvious question: “All right, who did this?” I jab a finger at the letters carved into the back of the wooden kitchen chair: A N N A Anna’s older sister chimes in first, rolling her eyes for dramatic effect. “I recognize those backwards Ns anywhere,” she says. Anna’s fork falls with a guilty clink…
Rosie, the matriarch of our little country church, scooted through the crowd and down the center aisle to find me before the postlude even began. “Can you bring a dessert to the church supper Friday night?” she asked, pressing a pen into my hand. She held up a clipboard, and I froze before I looped the first curve on my cursive J. Rosie…
“I wonder what Heaven will be like,” our older daughter says, staring out the window of the car, with her hand propped on her chin. She’s staring at clouds. I turn on my blinker to change lanes and reach the exit ramp toward home. Our younger daughter is buckled in behind me and blurts out the first answer: “Ice…
There’s not too many things we can be absolutely certain of in our lives. Yet here’s one truth we can know for sure – there will come a time when we’ll have to make a decision. We’ll have to say yes or no, to take one path or the other. When we make that call some people may pat us on the back and praise us, but…
On The Road on
It’s August 28, 1963. Hundreds of people are soaking their feet in the Reflecting Pool in an attempt to cool-off. It’s a normal mid-summer day but the body heat of 250,000+ people is causing an abnormal spike in D.C. The cool marble of the Lincoln Memorial mocks attendees who have spent months marching to its steps. It’s a pivotal…
I’ve never been good with waiting. My husband never understands why I purposefully read the end of a novel just to know what happens and yet still go back and finish reading the rest of the book. When we watch a movie, if he knows how it ends, I want him to tell me, then I can settle in and enjoy the rest. When I was a little girl, I discovered…
Recently I read through the book of Acts and noticed something kind of profound, something that’s still happening today. In chapter 14 we read about Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, preaching at the Jewish synagogue. Paul and Barnabas spoke with power and influence and the Lord our God was with them. Clearly, they loved God more…
Susie Larson on
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