I Take Your Hand
Grace flows through Tamar’s story. God includes Tamar, a Canaanite woman whose moral judgment appears deeply flawed, in the legal bloodline of…
I Will Help You
After God killed Er and Onan, Judah feared giving his youngest son to Tamar. Instead of looking inward or recognizing God’s sovereignty over the deaths of his…
Two Unchangeable Things
For years Tamar lived with the knowledge that Canaanite and Jewish law required Judah to care for her. When her mother-in-law died, Tamar concluded she had no hope…
The God Who Cannot Lie
Soap operas have nothing on Scripture and Tamar's story is no exception (Genesis 38). Through his father, Jacob, God promised Judah that the…
God Will Make a Way
At the last minute, my friend couldn’t accompany me to the event where I was speaking but the two hours passed quickly as I drove and listened…
Tamar – Don’t Forget Me
The pastor asked the elderly, childless widow, “What can I do for you?” Her simple response: “Don’t forget me.” I heard the same cry in…
Do the Next Thing
What should we do while we are waiting for the Lord to “make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert?” Elisabeth Elliot, author, speaker and spiritual mother to…
Unlikely Role Models
“I was sitting behind you at the Thanksgiving Eve service and I am so glad I got to see how ornery your boys are! It gives me hope as I raise our sons!” I smiled weakly, remembering…
God is Always Up to Something
Throughout the Psalms, we read the lament, “How long, oh Lord, how long?” Many of you whisper or shout that question every day, numerous times a day. A prodigal child, an abusive husband, too many…
Unwrapping the Gift
Our kids call Chuck’s mother, Situ, Lebanese for grandmother. Situ is with Jesus but laughter often fills the room when family gathers and we share Situ memories. Every Christmas, someone reminds…
More Abundantly Than All That We Ask
Between now and Christmas, we are pulling back the curtains on the lives of five women: a wounded widow, a professional prostitute, an indomitable immigrant, a bathing beauty and a…
All I Want for Christmas
I was about fifteen years old when my very talented, artistic mother coached me to sing All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth for a holiday talent contest. Seconds before I was to perform, my…
Christmas is Coming!
So what is a “midwife of the Messiah”? The Apostle Paul challenged Pastor Titus to “teach the older women so that they could teach the younger women” how to walk by faith in their own…