The Fish Tank

The 90s killed us. Our fashion sense was a mess. Our hair, well, most of us would love to hide pictures of ourselves from that era because of the hair alone. Music was grungy and so was our style. Doc Martins and crop tops were the norm. We were supposed to be Jesus Freaks thanks in part to DC Talk. Christian music came onto the scene with a vengeance. So did "quiet time" and "devotionals." All of a sudden, we were swept into this perfect scenario where one was supposed to wake before the rooster crowed, light a candle, and open her Bible. It was intense. The standard was set and it was set high. I am a quiet time drop-out. I became a Christian in the early nineties. The nineties were a space where I grew up both physically and spiritually. I jumped in the deep end digesting as much Christian music as I could and staying true to the quiet time standard. I thought that was what you were supposed to do to please God. Listen to good Christian music, go to church o...

I went into my youngest's room to pick up the floor and straighten the beds. Their fish, Goldie, started swimming around like a maniac. I assumed he hadn't been fed yet, so I obliged and gave him a few flakes committed to not allowing the fish to die on my watch. I made sure I followed the boys' instructions for fish care implicitly. They have them taped to the wall in case one may forget. Three flakes of food. That is all this little Beta needs. Three tiny little flakes. How depressing. The moment I drop the food in the tank, he grabs them. If he had teeth, he would bite my finger. Hungry little fella. A little food for a little fish. Isn't this true for our spiritual life? We take in a little bit of the Word only growing in small amounts. We have good reason why we aren't reading our Bibles very much. Our schedules are overloaded. The kids are little and interrupt us every time we try and pick it up. We are too tired before bed at night and cannot, no matter w...

Social media. I have a love/hate relationship with you. I love that you keep me connected with people: my family and friends from near and far currently and from the past. I love cheering on friends from the other side of the screen; excited for their victories and praying for their hardships. And then there are those that deflate me. If I am not careful, I will follow someone just to watch the train wreck. I may even follow just to be in "the know" of their life not really caring about them deeply. Sometimes I follow some just so I don't miss out on what they may post next. This is totally unhealthy, obviously. What is in your social media feeds? What are you seeing everyday? What is filling your heart and your mind? We like to scroll. Scrolling removes us from reality which may seem too hard, daunting, or hurtful in the moment. Scrolling turns our brains off from the busyness of the day. It's mindless. Or, is it? We are captivated by what's in that littl...

One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39-43 The thief on the cross. We like him. Well, most of us do. We like that he was a criminal yet, Jesus told him he would be with him in paradise. It comforts us to know that we, too, may make it to paradise one day even though we are a royal mess. I went out on a limb and listened to a podcast with a speaker who has gone a little rogue in the Christian faith. Honestly, I was going to skip over this one because I didn't want to hear her rhetoric...