Hope and Be.Longing

Scrambling

October 7, 2017

I’m scrambling up a leaf-strewn trail in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, and I’m thinking about giants. I will find out later that I could be thinking about snakes—copperheads, to be exact—but for now, the roots that entangle the dirt at my feet are just that and nothing more.

I’ve slipped out of a conference for a breath of quiet prayer and fresh air. One of those still sitting back in the room is my friend, who with a small cohort of others is training to share the good news of Jesus to people in faraway places. She’s here because she’s heard God calling her to this—a path much harder than the one I tread through the woods today.
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Stories of Hope, Belonging, and Longing

Be Longing: Pete and June’s Story, Part 3

September 10, 2017

I’m wrapping up my chat with my friends Pete and June in their living room, just before they celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary. And we return to a familiar topic in our conversations: their neighbors.

Pete loves to talk about their street. He describes how there are seventeen families on the block, and over the years he has given each five letters talking about Jesus. He starts gently and then puts on a little more pressure. He tells them there is a heaven and there is a hell. He’s seen some reaction and a lot of no reaction, but all are friendly. They all know his condition now; he’s told them all.

Stories of Hope, Belonging, and Longing

Belonging: Pete and June’s Story, Part 2

September 7, 2017

I’m sitting in the the living room of my friends Pete and June days before they celebrate 69 years of marriage, hearing their story. I’ve heard how they were raised in homes where Christ is the center, which is the foundation of their hope.

June and Pete’s childhood families loved not only the Lord but also wrestling. June’s dad took her to wrestling matches at the college from the time she was young, and Pete went to watch his older brothers. She remembers being a senior in high school sitting across from Pete’s family. Her dad pointed out Pete and noted, “He’s a good wrestler. We’re recruiting him.” June hardly noticed him at the time but couldn’t miss his mom, who was a short and stocky woman who swayed so enthusiastically while watching her wrestling sons that she pushed her quiet husband all the way down the bench during the matches. Pete still laughs about it, saying his friends would come not to see wrestling but to watch his mom. Continue reading

Stories of Hope, Belonging, and Longing

Hope: Pete and June’s Story, Part 1

September 6, 2017

I climb the porch steps of Pete and June’s yellow house, greeted by a row of tomatoes and acorn squash sunning themselves on the painted railing. I comment on the bounty and Pete tells me he dropped off nine bags of tomatoes on the porches of his neighbors yesterday. Just set them down and walked away. “They know,” he says simply.

I’m here to sit in their living room and just be with them—one of my favorite couples. They’re celebrating 69 years of marriage this weekend, and I want to hear their story. How do you do it, make it to 69 years?

Stories of Hope, Belonging, and Longing

Sparrow

September 1, 2017

I’m trailing two pickup trucks inside of Iowa, surrounded by scattered hills of gold-tasseled corn and a morning sky the hue of milk glass. I pass a field dotted with copper cows, a gray dilapidated farmhouse posted sentry. John Deeres rest on a dirt road corner, black-eyed Susans watching from the ditches on either side.

There is something about an Iowa farm that makes me pause and drink deep, that reminds me that life is but a vapor and I should take note.