Going the extra mile

photo courtesy iwanbeijes sxc.hu

 “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

Matthew 5:41

photo courtesy iwanbeijes sxc.hu

“The extra mile is never crowded”

Or so a church sign boasted. I confess, the glib statement kicked up some unholy thoughts. You see at the time I passed the sign, I happened to be running mile 20 of a 22 mile run. I was literally in the extra mile.

During my marathon training, every couple weeks my “long run” got longer. Those “extra” miles are pure torture. It’s like

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Filling In The Blanks

Goodbye

I know that for many of you Christmas has been over for a solid month, but for me, Christmas did not end until the last weekend of January.

Due to a new position at my brother-in-law’s workplace, my sister and her family were not able to make the 872 mile drive from their home in North Carolina to Michigan in time for Christmas this year. We all agreed that we would wait as long as necessary to celebrate the season if that’s what it took for us

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Community Begins at Home

photo courtesy of anissat on sxc.hu

photo courtesy of anissat on sxc.hu

The snow crunched under my feet. I paused outside the heavy glass doors. The playground was eerily quiet, the lull before the storm of five to seven-year-olds about to invade. Slices of bread hung by yarn on a tree, flapping in the wind, awaiting hungry birds. I took a deep breath of the frigid, fresh air and steadied my mind and my heart to give what I had to a couple dozen kindergartners.

Wide chocolate brown eyes greeted me with delight.

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A Love Like This

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I wanted so badly to write a really upbeat, encouraging post this week. You know, something about how the sun is shining and the leaves are turning colors and God’s awesome love and all that. But I need to be real, sisters: I just don’t have it in me.

You see, while I was busy doing who knows what, my semester at seminary has come screeching to it’s end and all the papers I thought I had so much time to finish are suddenly due. All. At. Once.

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