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Stressors abound right now. COVID-19 has disrupted so much of our lives. We can’t gather with friends and families and worship. People have lost jobs and housing. And in the ultimate disruption, over 146,000 have died just in the US, and over 650,000 worldwide. We face protests and sometimes riots in many cities as we struggle with responding to racism. Hurricane Hanna just hit Texas, one of the states hit hardest by COVID-19. Like they need more stress.
So how do we chill? Well…
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image from maxpixel.com
Prayer. Often, one of the greatest struggles that followers face. A conference leader once asked me to keynote their retreat, and like an idiot I didn’t first ask about the topic—she wanted prayer. Yeah, I still struggle with it. Then a friend’s recent Facebook post sparked a discussion between Leilani Smith and myself. That…
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painting by Leilani Strong Smith
Leilani Strong Smith, a very good friend, writer, artist, and educator recently put this painting and text on her blog “Godhead Here in Hiding.”
“Most of the oil paints I use are made from minerals that give the paints its characteristic colors. The child-like thrill I feel when I squeeze the paint from the tube onto the palette is visceral. But my highest joy comes from mixing the bold colors together. I can dull the color or brighten a color, depending on what paints I mix. From the mixing of any two colors many more colors can be made! Sometimes I am surprised by the color produced, and sometimes I can predict what colors will be created.
When I paint, I am reminded that God does not want a mixing of…
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“Water into Wine” by Leilani Strong Smith
A fellow teaching compatriot, Leilani Strong Smith, has crafted a new skill since we both left the school—painting. That’s her “Water into Wine” above. I easily saw the blue of water, at the top right, and the red of wine at the bottom left, and the turbulent mixing of the two in the center. But she neither intended nor noticed the …
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