Soul Value
God values us enough to wait for our choice. During the week before His death and resurrection, He has a poignant moment of deep grief. ”O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together…and you were unwilling.” Matthew 23:37 NASB Not that […]
Inner Soul Work
Discouraged with their new life back in the ruins of Jerusalem in 520BC, the returned exiles turn their focus to building their own houses while neglecting work on the house of God due to opposition, weariness, and low yields of their harvests. They are discouraged by the inferiority of the new temple compared to the […]
Reflective Soul
It’s worth taking a look at your soul for 2023 “Once we accept the gospel of grace and seek to shed defense mechanisms…, honesty becomes both more difficult and more important. Honesty involves the willingness to face the truth of who we are, regardless of how threatening or unpleasant our perceptions may be. It […]
Soul Calling
Congratulations to our daughter Rachel, completing her M. Div next week! (A portion of her manuscript from an advent message by Rachel S Wood, edited by JS): We are mentored by our sister, Mary, through her song in Luke 1:46-56. She sings into this extraordinary situation (Luke 1:21ff.): Gabriel appears to Mary announcing the miraculous […]
shades of grace
Shades of Grace always unmerited, never earned, given for different reasons: photo – danielle bergen Grace for redemption, before we knew we even needed it, He chose us. Grace for forgiveness… Grace lavished on us for […]
Beauty in the Broken
Beauty in the Broken A meander through the book of Jeremiah for group or personal retreat You need some reflection time before heading into the next season! Take a guided, thoughtful, life-giving plunge to realign & restore yourself. Beauty in the Broken is a gentle retreat guide for personal or group space. Reconnect with […]
Soul Half-time
Halfway Coming out of a recent jet-lag fog, I noticed the year was more than halfway through. As that reality settled into my breath, my jumbled thoughts searched for some ballast: Where am I now and where do I want to be at the end of this year? I looked through my notes of […]
Soul Planting
A stirring perspective on transitioning into a new life situation. Guest post by Summer R. “The process of being planted: Tilling the soil: stirring up holy discontent, a wrestling of self into a place of obedience and willingness to be broken, to be used. Uprooting: ripping out things that bind us to the land- becoming […]
Soul Passover
Since Good Friday and Passover fell on the same day this year, I wanted to mark it in a meaningful way, so I looked up some of the ways the Jewish people remember what was done for them. I was intrigued with charoset, a sticky mixture resembling the clay used as mortar for bricks they […]
Soul Subtleties
“And Jeroboam said in his heart…” 1 Kings 12:26 Those inner decisions we hardly know we’re making, that direct, affect and form our very self, our souls… as imposters they can sneakily make themselves at home if we don’t oppose them. Our thoughts can be subconsciously, subtly diverted if we are not aware of what’s […]