How many of you out there know the parable of The Prodigal Son? For those of you who don’t, here’s a quick summary. A father has two sons. One son (we’ll call him Bob) asks for his inheritance early. Bob then runs off with this gift and spends it like it’s going out of style. Before too long he’s broke and he decides – rather than be homeless and alone – to come home and beg for his father’s forgiveness. Upon returning, Bob’s father shows none of the anger or resentment that Bob anticipated but instead celebrates him with a massive party. During the party, the father’s other son (let’s call hi ..read more

A while back I watched a documentary about a project [organized by Nike] to break the 2-hour barrier of a marathon completion time. I won’t spoil the whole thing for you in case you decide to watch it but I do want to talk about one part. While the runner is officially performing his attempt at beating the record, he has 3-5 runners also running in a pack with him. I did a little research (since I’m definitely not a runner) and found out that these additional runners are called pacesetters or pacemakers or rabbits. Their goals, in the case of an attempt at a record-breaking run, are the follow ..read more

Do you know what the longest week in the Bible was? I bet you’re guessing it’s the week of creation. (Nope.) The longest week in the Bible only takes up the length of one Bible verse but it’s a doozy. “One week later, the flood came and covered the earth.” (Genesis 7:10 NLT) Now, keep in mind that this verse comes after Noah has already: Received God’s command to build the Ark Located all the supplies to build the Ark Built the Ark Witnessed God usher in two of every type of animal into the Ark Gathered his family into the Ark Shut the door to the Ark All of this has already taken years. I ..read more

You know those moments where something goes wrong and you feel the urge to panic-plan? Panic-planning is different than damage control. Damage control is after the problem is completely over. Panic-planning happens while the problem is still in progress. My panic-plan routine is pretty predictable. Here’s what it looks like: Phase 1: Hear about the problem Phase 2: Ask a bunch of questions Phase 3: Get grumpy and quiet while trying to solve the problem (this phase may last awhile… my family does not love this phase) Phase 4: Present 2-3 solutions to whoever will listen Phase 5: Execute best s ..read more

“Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?” Paul asked this question in Acts 26:8 as part of his defense in court before King Agrippa. But, when I see those words, it’s like he’s standing right in front of me wanting to know MY answer today. Why does it seem incredible/impossible to you – Emily – that God can raise the dead?  It doesn’t. It doesn’t seem incredible/impossible to me that God can raise the dead. I believe that God created the entire universe from nothing – creating life is his specialty. I think, if I were to be really, REALLY honest, I’d have to ..read more

My husband, whose super power is processing his thoughts out loud, said randomly the other day: “I wonder why Tim Burton puts elaborate dioramas in so many (all?) of his films.” I have no idea. Maybe one of you reading this is a mega-Tim-Burton-fan and happens to know the reason. If not, I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere on The Google. Regardless, I’m sure there is a reason. I’m sure of that because one thing we know is that, as wacky as the human race is, Hollywood, psychology, history and science all agree – there is a reason for (or a point to) everything. The Bible agrees, too. Th ..read more

If you’ve never read Leviticus, today’s Messy Worship is a bit of a spoiler. But, don’t worry – I’ll only spoil the first three chapters. Leviticus starts off with a verrrrrrrrry thorough how-to guide on the basics of the different types of offerings that the Israelites would bring to God. As I started to read and the descriptions got more and more specific, I noticed I was having a pretty strong reaction to these worship guidelines. It went something like this Bible: “The priest will take the bird to the altar, twist off its head, and burn the head on the altar. He must then let its blood dr ..read more

I love Costco’s parking lot. Let me be even more specific: I believe that Costco deserves a major award for figuring out the exact right dimensions to provide for each individual parking space. These parking spots are perfectly constructed for life. They are big enough to actually open car doors without dinging the car next to me. (As a parent of 5 expert door dingers, this is a big deal. Huge.) It also allows me to need less of a “wind up” to park accurately between the yellow lines. I can almost park diagonally in these things and still fit! In short: these glorious parking spaces are design ..read more

Our culture really loves to celebrate young success. I totally get it – it’s amazing to see someone kicking life’s butt already in high school or in their early 20’s. I ogle Forbes’ 30 Under 30 every year. It’s almost impossible to not be blown away by people who just seem to “get it” sooner than the rest of us. Blown away and jealous. Ridiculously jealous. I didn’t make it on that list before I turned 30 and now – just a bit past 30 ? – I still don’t seem anywhere near that list’s caliber. For example, my big successes for this week so far include: 1) Staying awake for the whole sermon on Sun ..read more

I am not very good at pausing to thank God. Don’t get me wrong – It’s not that I don’t pray. I am practically expert level at asking God for things. Seriously. I’ve got lots of time for that. But, when it comes to stopping what I’m doing to offer God a sincere, focused thank you (equal in quality to my expert level asky prayers), I’ve got some major room for improvement. Actually, if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t even realize how much my thankful-prayer-life was lacking until I read about Abram this past week. In Genesis chapters 12 and 13 there were a couple things he did that helped ..read more