Conversations with God

One of the neat things about being a teacher of young children is the opportunity to see things from a child’s perspective, to witness firsthand their innocence and trust, and gain a better understanding of how Father wants me to see things. He uses them to teach me things I might not learn as well from a book or a sermon. I receive new students throughout the year. As a special education teacher, my students come already facing challenges. Being in a racially and ethnically diverse district, they sometimes have the added challenge of being unfamiliar with the primary language of the school. So when I get a new student as young as 2 years old, who has never been away from home or family, and who doesn’t even speak the same language I do, my first job is not to teach them their ABCs. It’s not even to teach them English. My first responsibility is to create a space where they feel safe enough to focus on those things they need to learn without the distractions of fear or anx...

Chaos calls to chaos, to the tune of whitewater rapids. Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers crash and crush me. Then God promises to love me all day, sing songs all through the night! My life is God’s prayer   (Ps 42:7-8, MSG) . “I’m going to crush you with love.” Those are the words Father spoke to me a few months ago in response to my deep conviction of what I perceived as my lack of properly appreciating all He’s done for me. I asked Him to crush me – having no idea how He would choose to do so. It has yet to cease to amaze me how He responds to the naked heart’s cry of His own. When I expect Him to punish, He loves more. When I want Him to yell at me, He just looks at me with His heart in His eyes. While I’m waiting for Him to walk away, He moves closer than before, until I finally take the hand He’s extending. As Father continues to reveal and destroy my misconceptions of who He is, I’m realizing how many of my responses to Him are born out of my experiences wit...