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Throw the Baby in the River
The mustached man grabbed my arm roughly and said, “Come with me.” Anger flashed in his eyes. As he led me forcefully to the front of the store, he explained that he was part of the undercover security team, and he had witnessed me shoplifting. This was a revelation to me. I was shopping for… The post Throw the Baby in the River appeared first on FaithGateway.
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The Dark Side of God’s Love
Just ten minutes into hearing the doctor’s explanations, I could take it no longer. We were already numb from the events of the day, but hearing Carson scream in the background pushed me over the edge. While I was signing waivers just outside his newly inhabited hospital room, nurses on the second floor of St…. The post The Dark Side of God’s Love appeared first on FaithGateway.
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Gratitude Changes You
Just look at us! We’ve become overcome with gratitude! Gratitude can’t occupy the same area of space in your heart as carping and complaining. Which will it be? The truth that emerges from the center of you, from the core of your being, is revealed to you by the One who chose you, and… The post Gratitude Changes You appeared first on FaithGateway.
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Coping With Crisis
Trust Me with every fiber of your being! What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on Me. One aspect of this is the degree to which you trust Me in a crisis or major decision. Some people fail miserably here, while others are at their best in… The post Coping With Crisis appeared first on FaithGateway.
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We Could Be Heroes by Margaret Finnegan
We Could Be Heroes puts together two “neurodiverse” youngsters in a misguided quest that results in real friendship. We Could Be Heroes by Margaret Finnegan. Atheneum, 2020, 241 pages. Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 8-14 Two things we learn right away about Hank Hudson: he likes rocks, and he hates sad books. He hates the book his teacher is reading to the fourth-grade class—so much, that when we first see him he’s trying to set fire to it in the school bathroom. That doesn’t go over well, but he still has his rocks. And then he has Maisie. True, at first this seems a mixed blessing,…
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Ready for Anything: How to Prep for Anything Without Getting Overwhelmed
If you are anything like me, when you first heard about the concept of prepping, you became overwhelmed just thinking about it. You’ve seen the commercials, looked at the pamphlets, and maybe even attended a meeting where they talked about being prepared for a fire/flood/earthquake/tornado (fill in the blank, depending on where you live and… The post Ready for Anything: How to Prep for Anything Without Getting Overwhelmed appeared first on FaithGateway.
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Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Stamped, a young-reader version of Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning, is an engaging but one-sided picture of racism in America’s past. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Little, Brown, 2020, 294 pages, including notes and index. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: Teen, ages 15-up Stamped from the Beginning: the Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America was published in 2017 and won a National Book Award for nonfiction that year. Author Ibram Kendi’s theme, in that book and in his #1 current bestseller, How to Be An Antiracist, is that the United States is so deeply steeped in racism that virtually…
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Lord — Help!
Layne McKeel, a senior adult, ventured out of his house during the coronavirus pandemic to get a few supplies at his local grocery store in Georgetown, Tennessee. He’d been shut in for some time, but his disability check had arrived and he needed some food and staples. When he reached the checkout counter, his bill… The post Lord — Help! appeared first on FaithGateway.
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Writing a Better Story
Nearly every day in the summer, I take my dog to Westmoreland Park, where she plays in the creek. She runs up and down through the creek bed, diving headlong into the water, chasing ducks. Sometimes when I watch her I think about how good life can be, if we only lose ourselves in our… The post Writing a Better Story appeared first on FaithGateway.
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Where’s My Passion?
Where’s the passion I used to have? The determination to run with strength? The boldness? I hear people think-out-loud along these lines. They wonder how their motivation disappeared, or why they procrastinate or feel so stuck. They can’t seem to rev their wheels anymore. They get stuck in the mud. I relate. I’ve tried to get started on certain projects and then they’ve just — fallen through. Not all the issues are me, but still — the outcome feels embarrassing. Ever been there? Maybe you have a big dream but you haven’t followed through. You have hopes for a relationship. You want to stop a bad habit. Or, go a…
