the need to know
Why? Our 10-year-old son is especially adept at asking this question with great frequency. Because his questions have moved from innocent curiosity to occasional open challenge, my husband and I have chosen not to overlook the habit. Paying close attention, I realized Micah was asking questions not to gain understanding but in order to gain information so he could negotiate his way out of whatever we had asked him to do.
village of eternity
British journalist Tracey Lawson visited Campodimele, Italy, and dubbed it the “Village of Eternity.” The 1,000-year-old town rests like a crown atop a mountain, and the average resident lives 95 years. The locals eat well—mostly simple, fresh food. According to Lawson, the village is a “little cluster of medieval houses [with] olive trees on the slopes in the background.” The main piazza boasts a panoramic view of the Liri Valley, and twilight patrons of the Moonlight Café can sit outside and watch the moon ascend like a slow-moving lantern.
yet to come
My sister might take a year off from work to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I told her, “Well, be ready to check out the hills so that you know where to run to during the great tribulation.” Though spoken half in jest, both of us believe that Jesus is coming soon and we take to heart His prophetic words in Matthew 24.
all things new
Russian scientists recently discovered plant matter in the burrow of an Ice Age squirrel—stuff that had been frozen for thousands of years. They took the material to their laboratory, where they successfully regenerated a thriving Silene stenophylla plant. The scientists will continue to dig through the Siberian permafrost in hopes of finding frozen matter from other plants and animals. They would love to uncover tissue from a wooly mammoth, which they think they could parlay into a living version of the real thing, à la Jurassic Park.
“he’s gone”
I had the heart-wrenching, joyous, bittersweet experience of losing my dad on January 6, 2012—his birthday. Our loss was truly his gain! He had been battling rapidly deteriorating health before God graciously took him home.
announcing life
The small island of Crete was a tough place. Knee-deep in glamour and hedonism, it was where the rich went to play. First-century tourism advertisements might have echoed the motto from modern-day Sin City (Las Vegas, Nevada): “What happens in Crete . . . stays in Crete.” The apostle Paul tells us that even one of their own, a Cretan, summarized that the populace was full of “liars, cruel animals, and lazy gluttons” (Titus 1:12).
you choose Q: what should I do next?
Q: How do I know what to do next in life after having taken care of my Mom for over 24 years? —Raleigh
A: 24 years! You’re to be highly commended for your years of faithful sacrifice on behalf of your mom. At the same time, being a caretaker for so long presents some unique challenges. It can become so much…
letting go
During a recent 3-week stay in the hospital, I met Kathy. She shared her grave medical condition and her strong faith—an unflinching belief in Jesus. She loved Him and trusted Him, but she also knew she was heading home to hospice care. Her days on earth were counting down. As my wife and I talked with Kathy, we learned of…
exile
Our city has become a gathering place for refugees. Some escape political persecution. Some have abandoned countries ravaged by decades of war. Some, seeking to provide for their family, have come to a place they didn’t know with the hope they would find peace. In a neighborhood just a stone’s throw from my house, you discover a beautiful collage of…
navigator in focus
I like this picture. It was taken in our backyard last fall. It’s a beautiful landscape, a pond surrounded by trees in the late hues of autumn. It’s a scene I fell in love with the first time we saw this house. But it’s not a picture of that landscape. No one would mistake it for such. In the picture,…
covenant eyes
A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2006 revealed that children who watch media with high levels of sexual content tend to be more sexually promiscuous. Researchers studied 1,017 adolescents, ages 12 to 14, over a period of 2 years. During that time, the teenagers were tracked as they took in varying amounts of sexual content in…
your role is needed
One of my daughter’s high school teachers appeared in the 1986 movie Hoosiers. The film is based on the true story of a small-town high school basketball team in the US and their improbable run to the Indiana state championship. He didn’t have a big role. He had no lines. His name doesn’t even appear in the credits. He was…
seeing it
Imagination sets the horizons of life, for it opens up what’s possible. People who lack imagination are unprepared to face their future. The United States was blindsided on 9/11 because we couldn’t imagine that terrorists would fly airplanes into buildings. The world economy became depressed because financial leaders couldn’t conceive that home values could go down or that legendary institutions…
tomorrow
Let's talk about tomorrow—today. What will your tomorrow be like?
Tomorrow could bring death. From the moment we're born, we're dying. Someone has said that death is one appointment you may postpone, but can't cancel (see Psalm 89:47-48).
Tomorrow could bring about sickness (Job 14:1-2). We desire a healthy life. But we have to deal with the fickleness of life and our…
all shall be well
Between natural disasters leveling wide swaths of crops and inflation dramatically skyrocketing prices, even subsistence foods like rice or beans have been pushed almost out of reach for many in developing economies. In response to the estimated one million North Koreans who starved to death in the late 1990s, government researchers have been working to develop a noodle that "delays…
