no fear

May

2019

We Can Stop Apologizing Now

As I flip through the pages of Real Simple (May 2019), I make it as far as pg 10, “The Editor’s Note,” where Leslie confesses she is a recovering chronic apologizer. Which is why she loves this issue’s essay feature: “Women on what they no longer apologize for.”

Color me intrigued! I flip to page 126 and read all seven articles, right in a row. Sweet confessions of women no longer apologizing for things like loving cats or hitting the snooze button or being vulnerable.

I’ve been a chronic apologizer for much of my life too. Many of us are.

Continue reading →

May

2014

what if god is okay with you today

What if God’s okay with who you are today?

No, really. I mean what if He’s absolutely, 100% okay with you right this second, believer?

What if He’s not sitting up there tsk, tsk-ing and shaking His head, muttering “Sure wish she’d get this lesson so we could move on”?

What if instead He’s gazing down on you in love, saying to His nearest archangel, “Hey, did you see that kiddo of mine down there? Boy, do I love her! She’s fabulous. And look at her with my Son in her – she can do ANYTHING. I can’t help smiling this wide when I think about her.” Continue reading →

Oct

2013

why i like to call Him “Poppa”

I used to hear preachers claim,

The most important thing about you is what you believe about God.

My mental response was always, “Of course it is! I believe in God.”

But the view from here was of a supreme, all-knowing Being who looked down with a stern, wizened gaze. Never smiling much or laughing – at least not in my direction. Some days I knew He must sigh at my failure. Other times I was convinced He was shaking His head in disappointment.

So, every now and then I’d picture a loving father who cherishes and smiles on me in delight, but it was quickly overshadowed by my fear of disappointing Him.

Maybe my warped view of God stemmed Continue reading →