Taryn R. Hutchison's Blog: The Glorious Muddle, page 16

The Span of a Life

I heard a Christian doctor say something recently that I’ve wished wasn’t true. He claimed that, even with all the modern advances in medicine, the average lifespan is still 70 years, 80 at the most. Yes, some live to be 100, but many die way too young. Put them together and it all averages out the same […]

Time to Make Changes

Last week at this time, most of us were busy, maybe even overwhelmed. There was so much to do. Decorating. Baking. Buying gifts. Wrapping them and adding them to the growing pile under our trees. And in the midst of it all, we hoped to carve out space and time for the meaning of the season […]

Listen and Watch

One night, over 2,000 years ago, some shepherds near Bethlehem did what came natural for them. The evening began as any other ordinary night. They stood guard over their flocks in the fields. Even after God had called Israel’s greatest king ever out of the sheep folds, shepherds were still viewed as one of the last in […]

Love Dispels Fear

People all over the world are afraid. We fear the unknown. There is a collective and palpable sense of dread. Terrorists can strike anyone at any moment, in any country, in any venue. Added to that, you may have personal fears. Anxieties. Fear can give us ulcers. It can paralyze us. It can rob us […]

Even the Rocks will Cry Out

Tomorrow, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, my former teammates in America will travel to Romania for a special time of giving thanks. They will celebrate 25 years since the ministry I was part of began. I will deeply miss being with them, and I’ve second-guessed my decision not to go quite a bit these past weeks. […]

Wise as Serpents, Gentle as Doves

Once again, hearts around the world are broken. Our collective sense of safety is made more thin. Each day, another tragedy. Another encounter with evil. Paris. Mali. Egypt. Lebanon. That’s only this month. What’s our response to be as we contemplate refugees coming to our country? Opinions are heated on both sides. If we say, […]

The Redbud Post

Introducing . . . The Redbud Post, the new home and publication of the Redbud Writers Guild. Today’s the day! The Redbud Post is being unveiled! The Redbud Post provides thoughtful, biblical, and feminine perspectives on literature, theology, church, ministry, leadership and culture and more. It is the official site of Redbud Writers Guild, of […]

Living with Nostalgia

It sounds like I’m living with a disease, doesn’t it? Kind of like living with myalgia (muscle pain) or neuralgia (nerve pain). And in a way, it is like that. Nostalgia involves living with heart pain, with an unfulfilled yearning to return to a former time and place in your life, even if it’s only in your […]

Grace and Mercy on the Interstate

I left the house later than my normal five minutes, determined to make up the time on my 27-mile commute. As usual, I got stuck behind someone in the fast lane, no doubt someone who’d just crawled down from the Appalachian hills. Don’t these people know what a fast lane is? He drove like a synchronized swimmer, his […]

Change: It’s Inevitable

One of the constants in life is that nothing remains constant. Things change. It’s inevitable. You may embrace change, being bored with ruts and enticed by the hope of something new. Or you may be apprehensive, preferring the familiar with its problems to the unknown. Some change is good and long-anticipated, but much of it is painful […]