From My Journal: The lobby was filled with frantic men and women; nearly all of them had cell phones in their hands, trying unsuccessfully to reach a loved one. Over in the corner of the bar, a big screen TV was tuned to CNN. Those watching stood slack-jawed and silent, trying to understand the horror […]
Caught Between Faith & Fear: My 9-11 NYC Journal, Part 3
Where are you, O mighty mountain? . . . you will become level ground (Zechariah 4:7). From my journal: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 I find it difficult to write what I am feeling. This morning, excited about what we were to do this afternoon, I rose early, took my shower, and began to dress, put […]
Caught Between Faith & Fear: My 9-11 NYC Journal, Part 2
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses (Jeremiah 51:20). From My JournalMonday, September 10, 2021Late. Very late. Nothing went wrong between the house and the airport. Everything went wrong […]
Caught Between Faith & Fear: My 9-11 NYC Journal, Part 1
I have decided, as we near the 20th anniversary of the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil, to share excerpts of my journal . . . of the events leading to my husband and me being in NYC that fateful day . . . and of insights I have since gleaned. Monday, September 10, […]
Dust: A Few Questions (for book clubs and private readers)
I’ve been asked to a few book clubs lately. We didn’t add book club questions at the back of “Dust,” but with the booking of so many clubs, I decided that I would come up with a few of my own. “Dust” is a complicated story (of sorts), which meant a few more than the […]
Words of Jesus III
“The Temptation of Christ” is how we often refer to the story told in Matthew 4: 1-11, but the word “temptation” doesn’t ring true. Not fully, anyway. The Greek word used—peirazo—means “tested” as one would test a thing to see if it is true to its nature. Precious metals are tested. Gemstones are tested. And, […]
The Words of Jesus, I
I often say—sometimes to myself, sometimes to friends, sometimes from the stage or from behind a lectern—that I do not want to reach heaven and have to ask, “Which one is Jesus?” I express my desire to know Him now. Here. So much so that I recognize Him immediately upon entering through the gates. This […]
Dust, Chapter One
Allison October 1977 When I think back on it, I realize I never received a formal proposal of marriage. Not really, anyway. He never got down on one knee, never presented me with a diamond ring sparkling above a blanket of black velvet, prisms shooting out in the moonlight. There was no sweet scent of […]