Tag Archives: Jesus

TOL Treasure: “Day Before Easter”

Posted on April 7, 2012 | 7 Comments

I went straight from the Killer Tribes Conference to spring break with my family, so it’s been a little quiet around here lately. But I think this poem, shared here two years ago, is a fitting whisper into the spiritual quiet that precedes Easter Day. I hope it will bless you in some small way and that your Easter will be joy-filled. –Tamara

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Still,

In the stillness

Waiting,

Waiting still.

Not yet joy,

Just the darkness,

Waiting,

Waiting still.

Hope

In the quiet,

Through the darkness,

But still

Waiting, hoping

Still,

Still,

Still.

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Guest Post: “Grateful”

Posted on March 9, 2012 | 36 Comments

Today’s guest post comes from Shanda Sargent of The Upside Down Pastor’s Wife. Shanda is an all-around beautiful woman, always offering encouragement and love. Her raw honesty and humble words here make an exquisite gift that I’m honored to share. –Tamara

(What’s up with all the guest posts around here lately?)

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Stones.

Stones in the dirt. 

Words in the sand. 

I am the girl on the ground.  Earth dirt is on my forehead, my lips, in my hair.  Bits of grit are in my teeth, and my heart is filled with sludge.  Sludge and darkness.

Stones.

Stones in hands more worthy than mine.

Stones that should be hurled.   Without mercy.

I brace myself.   I protect my head with filthy hands.  I hear disgusted mumbles around me.  I am scandal.   I am stained.   Shame wells up spilling into tears that leave muddy streaks on my cheeks and small puddles beneath my face.   A ragged stick scratches mere words in the earth.

Stones.

Stones fall.

One by one.

HE touches me.  I quake.   Like shards of glass, HIS LIGHT pierces through my deadened soul.  I am undone.  HE removes my scarlet garment.  I am FREE.

Whispers.

Whispers of unworthiness labor to sever me from freedom new.  I scratch and claw my way to protect the remembrance of HIS touch.

I cannot.

My heart is cloudy.   My head is blurred. I am in disbelief.   I am lost.  HE tenderly comes.  HE never tires.

Whispers.

HIS whispers serenade me.

You matter.

You are seen.

You are loved.

You are worthy.

You are mine.

I cling to HIS TRUTH like air.  I believe.  I trust.  I matter.  I am seen.  I am loved.  I am worthy.

I am HIS. 

I am grateful.

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Shanda Sargent belongs to her beloved, Matt, and homeschools their four very cool kids near the foothills of the Rockies.  After almost 20 years of pastoral ministry, their family is “ruthlessly trusting” God in the midst of plan B.

You can follow her blog, The Upside Down Pastor’s Wife, where she rambles her heart’s stirrings once every couple of weeks, follow her on Twitter, or friend/subscribe to her Facebook.

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When Words Become Flesh

Posted on February 15, 2012 | 3 Comments

I write monthly for A Deeper Story, where the group of us is blessed to tell stories of Christ and culture, given space both to wrestle hard and to weave soft. We tell the small stories so we might better know the Grand Story, and we sit in a virtual circle beside that space’s dear readers, shoulder to shoulder but for computer screens and miles, a community built on words and the Word.

But we remember that the Word became flesh.

And this Word-become-flesh brought light to our dark world, not in virtual community but in dwelling among us. And so if we are gifted to use our words in that space of Christ and culture, it cannot be because we were meant to leave them at only words.

Our words must become flesh.

And the One who was gracious to speak life into form knows this and wants this and works this into being. And, having glimpsed how small the world is in God’s hands, I cannot help but tell the story…

Please continue reading today’s post at A Deeper Story!

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Every New Christmas

Posted on December 19, 2011 | 50 Comments

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

Gifts 9 and 10 are up for grabs today! Because my actual story is posted in full at A Deeper Story, things will go a little differently than they have with the previous gifts:

To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this post right here. To leave a comment without playing, please visit A Deeper Story and join the discussion there.

I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: You interview me for your blog.

White Elephant Gift: I send you the infamous Hot Stuff sign, personalized as I see fit.

(What’s this all about?      Gifts 1 & 2      Gifts 3 & 4      Gifts 5 & 6     Gifts 7 & 8)

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'DSC_0650' photo (c) 2011, Ciara McDonnell - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/My dear friend R and I, we have good talks. We each seek the heart of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob– she, through beautiful Jewish sacraments; I, through a renegade Jewish rabbi. And as we seek His heart, we share our own, and it is a joyous, delicate beauty.

In one of our talks, one I will never forget, she confessed:

Sometimes I’m afraid we blew it– that Jesus really was the Messiah, and we missed it.

And I– I who dare speak to her of Jesus-in-the-head versus Jesus-in-the-heart when I am sorely lacking in the latter– I am knocked humble by her humility. And I think of Christmas.

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Please continue reading today’s post at A Deeper Story!

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Guest Post: “What is Peace?”

Posted on December 16, 2011 | 53 Comments

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

Gifts 7 and 8 are up for grabs today! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this guest post. (To leave a comment without playing, just add, “No gifts, please!”) I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: You choose the topic of a post I write.

White Elephant Gift: I virtually haunt you on Twitter for a day with a feigned strong emotion of my choosing (e.g. indignation, adoration, etc.).

(What’s this all about?           Gifts 1 & 2            Gifts 3 & 4          Gifts 5 & 6)

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Today’s guest post comes from Chad Jones. Chad is currently taking a break from blogging at Randomly Chad, but he’s sharing this lovely piece here for us to meditate on amid the busy Christmas season. –Tamara

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What is Peace?

For the Christian, the season of Advent is a time to reflect on the
coming of Christ into a contentious world. His advent–his coming–was
heralded by angels with the proclamation, “Peace on earth, goodwill
toward men.” Yet in the two thousand years since the savior’s birth we
have seen precious little of either.

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Running

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 74 Comments

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

Gifts 5 and 6 are up for grabs today! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this post. (To leave a comment without playing, just add, “No gifts, please!”) I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: I review/edit/advise on a post/document/manuscript sample of yours (800 words or fewer) or offer a general critique of your blog.

White Elephant Gift: I send you a tacky Florida postcard.

(What’s this all about?           Gifts 1 & 2            Gifts 3 & 4)

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Head is clouded,
Heart heavy.
Choice is before me
And I can run
Away or toward.
Head screams, Hide!
Heart whispers, No.

So I flip on
The soundtrack
For a run toward sanity.
An organ starts
And I begin,
One foot after the other,
Running with new hymns.

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Condemnation Walks Away

Posted on December 5, 2011 | 5 Comments

It’s my honor to guest post today at The Handwritten, where Michael Perkins takes a few verses of scripture and distills them or reflects on them in short, handwritten pieces. It’s a thought-provoking and often soul-stirring project, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute my own piece, Condemnation Walks Away.

I wrote it a few weeks ago when I was flipping through scripture to get to the part I wanted to study. As often happens, I landed instead where I really needed to be. Though I’d read it before, John 8:3-11 suddenly struck me deeply as I saw myself, and– better– Jesus, in a new way.

You can see my brief reflection (and handwriting!) here.

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Guest Post: “Life on the Bottom Shelf”

Posted on November 28, 2011 | 35 Comments

I’m honored to be sharing a guest post with you today written by my friend Jonah of Virtual Stowaway, a blog about the intersections of video gaming, culture, and faith. We get to do real life together, and when you read his piece here, you’ll see why I consider that to be such a privilege and joy. –Tamara

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Prior to my daughter’s birth, I kept all my journals on the bottom of my bookshelf. This made sense for several reasons, the most obvious of which was that I could easily grab the current volume and jot something down. But then Rose came, and I remembered that there was a lot of stuff in those journals that I didn’t want her to know about, confessions from a past life. She can’t even read yet, but those journals are now firmly positioned at the top of the bookshelf—even I can barely reach them without a stool.

I didn’t give this much thought until a few weeks ago when a good friend stood up in front of my church and bared part of his past for all to see. The courage and vulnerability of that act staggered me; I watched him step off the cliff of social “respectability” to be caught up by God’s grace.

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