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How to Make Your Own Kombucha Tea

Kombucha tea is that super probiotic drink people have been talking about. It supposedly works wonders for your gut biome — and who doesn’t need gut healing nowadays? Besides being good for you, it’s addictively delicious and fizzy. You’ll want to drink it every day. But at almost $4 a pop, it’s a little more […]

The Offering | The Sacrifice of Isaac: Part 4

Abraham turned to his son, the rope stretched between trembling hands. Isaac looked at his father, and a hoarse whisper escaped his lips, “Father … .”

The Empty Altar | The Sacrifice of Isaac: Part 3

“We have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

In the Shadow of the Mountain | The Sacrifice of Isaac: Part 2

Abraham had no plan. He had no idea how he would actually accomplish what God had asked, neither did he want to think about it. Not that any amount of thinking could prepare him for what he was about to do. He simply put one foot in front of the other, the way he had […]

Into the Darkness | The Sacrifice of Isaac: Part 1

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love … . Abraham’s heart had dropped to the pit of his stomach. He could feel the sweat cold on his temples, as he thought, “Lord, could this please not be a hard request, another stretching, another move beyond my comfort zone?” He had wanted to cover his ears, but he could not cover God’s mouth, and God had continued as if he had not known Abraham’s desperate thoughts, as if it did not matter.

Pig Headed Prodigal

Most of us are familiar with the story of the son who rejects everything he’s ever known to live what he thinks is the good life. He moves far away from home and spends his entire inheritance chasing his misguided dreams. Eventually his life choices have narrowed to sleeping with the pigs he feeds. When […]

One Last Time

Brain dead. Like anything dead, it seems so final. I’m sitting beside my father’s death bed. There’s that word again. Death. It’s why you say goodbye when you can. Why you say, thank you and I love you, over and over. So when the only sound is the shallow breathing of the ventilator and the […]

In Which I Distinguish Between a Rembrandt and a Christmas Cookie

Maybe I was born an overachiever, but I’ve only known striving for first place. I’ve never been content with “good enough.” I’m always working for the best — and then some. This attitude works well for school and a lot of other things. The problem is, it’s not always easy to turn it off, or […]

God Doesn’t Need My Money

Our focus is on the downtrodden these days. Maybe it’s the media. Or the internet with its potent visuals making the world that much smaller. Maybe more of us are finding ourselves among their ranks, or dangerously close. Maybe the reality that it could happen to us brings it closer to home. Whatever the reason, […]

Grace for the Good Girl

I want to read Emily Freeman’s book, Grace for the Good Girl, the way my three year old wanted to hear me talk about him on his play phone. He would hand me the phone and wait expectantly while I gave the listener a play by play description of his activities. He wanted to see […]

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First Blood | Adam & Eve: Part 3

“The serpent deceived me,” the woman said, hoping to mitigate what she was about to say next. “That’s why I ate it.” She was relieved when God turned his attention to the serpent.

Abram & Sarai | The Big Idea: Part 1

Then the sun dropped behind the horizon, and in the darkness Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. The Lord himself was making a covenant with Abram that day.

Abram & Sarai | A Love, a Lie, and a Promise: Part 1

She had followed Abram on this crazy journey, leaving behind all her friends and her childhood home. She never imagined it would end this way.

Sarah and Abraham | Deja Vu All Over Again: Part 1

He was not a coward. No, not in many things. But he had an irrational fear, a foreboding almost, that someone might kill him to get at Sarah.

Sarah and Abraham | Deja Vu All Over Again: Part 2

In the harem, Sarah waited. She waited to be called in to King Abimelech, or for someone — Abraham, God? — to come to her rescue. One day dragged into the next, and still nothing. God had said she and Abraham would have a child next year. Now Abraham had ruined everything. But why hadn’t God stopped him?

Degrees of Separation

I watch the monster who is me pressing the blade into my brother’s flesh until his blood runs hot over my own flesh. I see my brother’s face, the shadow passing over it when he realizes what I’m about to do. I rewind and see him running towards me from across the field. He is just within arm’s reach. I can choose to embrace him, but instead I pull my knife from its sheath.