30 More Days of Grace

I’ve done my time in the darkness.   Actually, I’ve done several stints in the darkness, and the thing that always gets me about the darkness is that I don’t actually realize I’m wandering around in it until the light begins to break through again.  I’ve been caving once, and, to be perfectly honest with you, I hated it. I’m not entirely sure what it is about crawling into the center of the earth, being cold, feeling constantly damp, and worrying about taking a wrong turn and getting lost forever in the bowels of the earth that actually appeals to people.  For some reason, though, there is this whole population of individuals who seem to think this is an enjoyable pastime. I found myself on an adventure with some of these people once.  They assured me caving would be exhilarating and enjoyable. They were wrong. They assured me I wouldn’t feel like I was going to get swallowed up by the bowels of the earth. They were wrong. They assured me I...

Christmas Miracles Chaos I learned the importance of being invisible when I was ten.   It was Christmas Eve, and, just like every Christmas Eve, we made the ¼ mile trip down the road to my grandma and grandpa’s house.  Both sides of my family subscribed to the family compound philosophy (aka: they all lived within ½ mile of each other); consequently, all of my mom’s family members were crammed into this small house.   While my grandparents were alive, we thrived on tradition. I never questioned what would happen on a holiday because we had a set plan for each of them. And our Christmas Eve tradition was to go to my Grandma and Grandpa O’Dell’s house with my aunt, her kids, and their kids.  We would eat, someone would read the Christmas story, one of the men would disappear, Santa would show up, the kids would be scarred, the female adults would be embarrassed, gifts would be distributed and opened, and then we would go home. This went down like clockwor...

Sunday School Stories: What Causes Fear I think I was in 5th grade the first time a Sunday School teacher scarred me with the “sins on the big screen” illustration.  Maybe you’ve heard it, and maybe you’ve even been equally scarred by it, but, just in case you aren’t familiar with it, please let me share.   Luke 12: 1-3 says,  “Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.'”   Somewhere along the way, that scripture has been interpreted by some to mean that when you die and face judgment, you are obviously going to stand bef...