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Am I My Brother’s Keeper?
Figuring out our responsibility to care for and serve others
It’s not the jealousy or the murder that I connect with; rather it’s that self-justifying question he tosses back to God that jumps off the page and often echoes in my own thoughts: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9, NIV).
Cain’s motivations in this defiant interchange with the Almighty are as complicated as any twisting and turning modern-day crime novel.
When I have this attitude, on the other hand, my motivation is pretty simple: I’m aiming to justify a self-focused life.
Let me be honest: There are plenty of days when just “keeping” my own life running—and “keeping” my beloved family—are about all I feel I can handle!
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May 7, 2012“Friending” Each Other . . . for Real
Looking for authentic spiritual friends
In Facebook-land, as in real life, it can be difficult to pin down what a friend really is. Among my Facebook “friends” are summer camp buddies, elementary-school playground pals, college gospel choir friends, former and current coworkers, and even a few people I honestly don’t like very much (but who I didn’t have the heart to reject when they “friended” me!). Yet in the crowd of all these “friends,” there are only a few real soul sisters.
There are friends...and then there are friends: the women in our lives who walk with us on our spiritual journey and help us grow closer to Christ.
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April 30, 2012Ministering to Tough People
I need perspective and balance in this difficult outreach.
Gloria (not her real name) was such a person. She’d come from an extremely dysfunctional background and as a result suffered from severe depression and almost daily anxiety attacks. After becoming a mom, these symptoms increased. When I met her, she’d become a Christian but was floundering in how to raise this new baby who was entrusted to her. She could barely manage her life, let alone guide someone else’s.
But at this crucial time, God brought her into my life. We moved into her neighborhood and I, too, was a new mom. As we connected over our children, we began to get to know each other, and I discovered that I had just what Gloria needed—daily guidance from a mature believer and immersion in the Scriptures.
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April 24, 2012Chicken Nuggets and the Sabbath
Download the Kyria ebook, Sabbath Rest in a World of Stress, in the Nook, Kindle, or Kyria stores.
It was Sunday, after church, and our family was grabbing a bite to eat at a local Mexican restaurant. We were sitting outside, trying to enjoy the sunshine, but Chick-fil-a was looming large right in front of us—literally across the street.
“Mom, I really, really, really want Chick-fil-a!” (Can you hear the high-pitched whining?)
“I love Chick-fil-a. Why can’t we go there?!” (Can you hear it yet? Add to your mental image: crossed arms, bottom lips stuck out.)
“Chick-fil-a is closed on Sundays,” I pronounced. “So just eat your quesadilla and stop whining, okay?”
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April 18, 2012What’s Your Hope for the Church?
Making it, so simply, a reality.
Over this past Easter holiday, I spent time reading from the Book of John. Jesus’ prayer in John 17, in which he prayed for us, the church, really convicted me: “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (vs. 20–23).
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April 10, 2012The Best Time I Failed at Lent
I beat myself up over my weakness, but then I discovered an important aspect of Lent and Easter that I hadn’t realized before.
This isn’t a unique experience for me. In fact, it’s happened at least three times in the past 40 days. Oops.
You see, about 40 days ago I committed myself to spending at least one full, uninterrupted hour with God each day during Lent. I picked one hour because it sounded like enough time to force me to rearrange my schedule. I needed to shake things up, and this “radical” commitment was, I thought, the perfect way to do it. It would look like . . . well, like my other, non-biblical reading turned out looking.
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April 3, 2012Avoiding the Cross
It’s so much easier—and less painful—not to think about the reality of what Jesus went through. And yet, it’s essential.
And so the Cross—the mind-numbingly painful and brutal reality of it all—well, it’s hard for me to swallow.
Several years back when The Passion of the Christ came out on DVD, we bought a copy. My bright idea was to watch it every Good Friday as an aid in contemplating Christ’s suffering and death.
It literally took me four years to follow up on that idea. For four Good Fridays in a row, despite my determination to go through with it, I just couldn’t bring myself to watch it. (I’d seen it in the theater, so I knew—very distinctly—what I was avoiding.)
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March 27, 2012Saving Thomas
What happened when I tried to drag a friend back to Jesus
In high school, I had a tight-knit group of Christian friends. We encouraged one another through the pressures and struggles of teenage life. One of my best friends was Thomas (name has been changed).
Thomas and I were in several leadership positions together in our youth group. He and his mom became Christians two years before I met him. His dad wasn’t a believer. I remember sitting with him late one night at a big youth rally listening to him cry about how broken he was over his lost father. He told me he’d spend the rest of his life living in his car if it meant his dad would come to Christ.
I always thought there was something beautiful about a kid who would give up everything he owned to have his dad find the love of Jesus. I wondered what kind of crazy things God would do with his life, with that kind of passion for the Lord.
Thomas went to college, started learning things that made him question his faith, prayed for God to get him through the loneliness and hurt he felt as he went through his freshman year...and heard no answer. And he stepped away from God. Completely.
We didn’t talk for six years.
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March 20, 2012When My “Stuff” Gets in the Way of Helping Others
Am I really attending to my friend’s hurts or hindering her from getting the help and comfort she needs?
You pull up to the quaint house with a nicely manicured lawn, you walk to the front door, and ring the door bell. Within a few moments your friend answers. Her face is red and splotchy. It’s clear she’s been crying.
As you step into her house you immediately notice how dark and smelly it is. All the shades are drawn and a single lamp lights her large living room. Mildew and dust mix in the air and flood your nostrils with stench. Once your eyes adjust you notice piles of books, newspapers, and magazines stacked up along each wall. The end table near the couch is covered with used tissues. A bowl of moldy food sits on the floor.
What stirs up inside you?
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March 12, 2012It’s Awkward
Sometimes God uses the most uncomfortable situations to remind us of who we really are—and who he really is.
A few weeks ago, I got together with my old college roommates. We do this every few months, and have ever since we graduated four years ago. The odd part about this particular weekend was that this time around I felt like an odd duckling.
You see, my friends are all married now—and I’m single. They’re looking into buying houses with their husbands; I’m just trying to pay my rent every month. They’ve made the leap to adopt dogs and cats; I’m still nervous about killing my new office plant, Alan (yes, that is his name). And soon, they’ll start having babies, and I will be not one, not two, not three, but four steps away from the path their lives have taken them down.
