According to a study published in December of 2023, brief conversations with strangers can boost happiness. Talking to people we pass on city sidewalks can be a form of hospitality–love of strangers–a virtue our hospitable God both commands and blesses. We met Fawn when she was barbecuing chicken in her backyard. Chuck took out the…
My prayer life was upended when I began praying for specific pastors and churches before praying for beloved family and friends. I pray for pastors something like this: “Father, enable them to spend the week mountain climbing and bring a description of the summit back to the cloud-covered lowlands. Empower them to see past the…
When I was a child, I loved poetry. I didn’t bring home books of poetry from the school library for the same reason I brought home horse books. I brought home Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague because we had circle segments in reading wheels with spokes for various genres of reading; we were to color…
