Sarah Dixon Young's Blog: Love Much, page 13

Room to Grow

My son got a pair of hand-me-down shoes that is four sizes too large.

I kept them, knowing that they will be useful someday.

However, he wants to wear them now. Today. 

It’s funny how children love having room to grow, while we adults get very comfortable filling every nook and cranny of every space we have with the familiar.

My wisdom looks at the too-big-shoes with room to grow and says, “But you will trip and fall and hurt yourself.”

My son’s quest for maturity says, “But I am...

The Balm of Humility

It happened while we were playing Wolves and Sheep at Bible Club.

The “wolves” were tagging the “sheep,” freezing them in place. My oldest son was the “Good Shepherd” who was able to unfreeze the sheep by tagging them, and the wolves did not have the power to freeze him.

Bea, a spindly seven year old girl, was a sheep, and she was having a hard time outrunning the older, faster wolves. Panting, she ran behind the Good Shepherd and grabbed onto his legs, imploring, “Save me! Save me!”

...

Needy

Runty pigs are needy.

Besides food and water, they need warmth, protection, and extra medical care. 

Two of our sows farrowed last week, and out of nineteen piglets, one was a runt.

In a Charlotte’s Web scenario, I brought the little pig into the garage. It was unresponsive, with mud plugging its nose and mouth. After a quick wash, he grunted a little. I hurriedly plugged in the heating pad and heated some milk.

The elation when he began sucking at the bottle, squealing, and gruntin...

Sitting at the Feet of Jesus

This week’s article details abuse and sensitive subject matter. It is my aim to uphold the healing and comfort of Christ instead of controversy or hurt. I recommend the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors if you or a loved one would like to seek counseling on any of these topics.

After her mother died, a young girl was sold by her father into abuse and prostitution to fund his addiction.

Even after the girl moved out, she was raped by a relative.

After calling the police, ...

Dirt Under the Table

Whenever I sweep under my dining room table, I wonder, “How could this much dirt accumulate so quickly?”

I actually took the time to ponder the answer today, and the answer is that our family sits there a lot. We eat there. We worship there. We learn there. We craft there. We cry and laugh there. You could say we live at the table.

That made me smile a little at my full dust pan. You know, sweeping everyday is a small price to pay for the richness of life lived at this table.

As I ...

And the Word was Rare

Summer is coming, and I recently got the calendar out to note the camps, swimming lessons, mission teams, and church events.

The busy-ness of Spring gave me pause before I loaded the day squares with pink, purple, and green ink. Do I really need to be doing all these things?

In my mind’s eye, I thought of an ancient Israelite woman waking up and walking to the door of her tent. Before she looked at the calendar, she needed to see what the cloud of God’s presence was doing.

“As long as ...

Reading the World

When I was twelve, I would pray the same prayer every night: Lord, send me adventure.

Following Him has been the greatest adventure of all, and seeing how He weaves plot, character, and conflict has proved to me that He is indeed the “Author and Perfecter” of my faith.

Perhaps that’s why I love books so much. They give little glimpses into the Greatest Story. Here are a few I have loved lately:

George Saunders’s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain might be a niche tome for those who love lite...

Guiding Lights

Guiding Lights

Perspective

Listen to this article instead.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I ask the ten-year-old in my Sunday school class.

“A teacher.”

There’s a short pause after my slightly distracted, “Oh, that’s nice.”

Then, she says, “But really, I just want God to come back.”

This gets my attention. I know she’s talking about Jesus. “How come?” 

“So I can see my mom again,” came the predictable reply. Her mom recently passed away.

She continues, “Although, we can’t really know what...

Stay Awake!

Listen to this article instead

Two hours of sleep is not enough.

I recently proved this statement as I was traveling to a speaking engagement. 

What do you do to stay awake? Coffee? Energy drinks? The old-fashioned toothpicks to hold the eyelids open?

When Jesus spoke about the end times, His one repeated exhortation to His followers was “Stay awake!”

We know that when the disciples’ time came for them to abide with Jesus and keep watch, they fell asleep. But was there anyone who...