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Like a shadow, the presence of dread is so familiar, so commonplace that it is rarely seen or acknowledged for what it is. As the sun rises, the mind awakens from it’s deep sleep. During the night, the mind spoke the deep thoughts of the subconscious in rhymes, riddles and symbols.

Unconditional love can be confusing at best. In our modern world, “unconditional” means that there are no consequences to our actions. Stating that love should be “unconditional” sets up a mighty resistance in the person who is told that they must love ‘unconditionally’, the abusive and selfish actions of their

Every one of us has, or is, or will face a challenge so great, we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to maintain our “sanity” riding out the storm. Whether it is a financial situation, a relationship, health or some other sudden or growing crisis, our peace hangs in the

There are moments when we are in the heat of a discussion and tempers flare, that the art of listening slides to the rear of our minds.  Emotions boil up, over and out, carrying acid thoughts and accusations. When listening ends, we take to heart only what we EXPECT to

“Would you like a Carmel Highrise?” Carol asks as she moves towards the counter the moment we walk through the door of our favorite coffee shop.  Who ever asks first is saying, “I love you and want to buy you coffee this morning.” Carol is always thoughtful and extremely patient.

“Sweetheart,” the young mother said, as she leaned over her teenage daughter sitting on the couch pouting. “Don’t you understand that God and I love you UN-conditionally?” “If that’s the case then you’d let me do what I want to do and it would be okay, right? the daughter replied.

Hey! Here’s a good one … After inquiring about a ministry project that a fellow minister was working on, I received a stream of excuses about why they had not progressed since the last time I’d asked. First it was that the devil was beating them up. (Amazingly, this had

Have you ever asked a dear Saint, “How are things with you?” and then received the reply, “Man, I tell you, the devil is really beating me up.” You ask what is going on, and they continue with a flourish, all the gory details of conflict, crisis, and disasters.  “Wow,”

Perhaps the most unsettling thing I’ve encountered in my Christian walk has been thinking that I had something figured out – only to discover there was ‘more to the story’. As a young Baptist girl, I was taught the belief of “once saved, always saved.” That blanket statement stayed with

Fast forward many years… I’m standing on the platform with the praise team. Singing is a joy to me, and unlike my cartooning talent, my musical talent is passable, but not nearly as gifted or refined. As the pastor’s wife, I felt incredibly honored and blessed to be working with

We were on a trip to the mountains for a church event and the student-teacher said, “I saw someone speak in tongues at a conference last week.” (That was the first I had ever heard of that term) “What did that look like?” I asked, trying to picture more than

Raised in the Conservative Baptist Church, I was taught that once we are saved we are always saved. One Sunday, at about the age of seven, the Sunday School teacher was explaining that to us in class. Shannon as a child goofing off in a photo booth. It didn’t seem