Michelle DeRusha's Blog, page 25

November 28, 2015

Weekend One Word: Coming

nativity and verse

Four years ago, my father-in-law Jon was diagnosed with terminal cancer during the first few days ofAdvent. To say that we were devastatedisan understatement. We’d lost my husband’s mom only a little more than a year before. This new diagnosis was simply too soon, too much, and the fact that it happenedat the start of Advent felt wrong and strangely offensive.

I’d like to tell you I felt God’s presence more than ever that season, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The reality was thatI struggle...

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Published on November 28, 2015 20:15

November 25, 2015

A Thanksgiving Thank You

tea cup

Happy, happy Thanksgiving, friends! This day is one of my favorites, hands-down. The aroma of aroasting turkey always brings me back to Thanksgiving Day at my grandparents’ house. My papa was the cook, apron and all, and every time I smell the rich scent of turkey, I think of him and my nana, too, who always let my sister and me use the silver and her very best porcelain tea cups. Nana taught me how to set a proper table, how to use the miniature silver tongs to dropsugar cubes delicately in...

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Published on November 25, 2015 03:00

November 22, 2015

A Prayer to Start Your Week

Yesterday my church celebrated a special global worship service with amazing prayers and songs from around the world. We opened the service with this prayer, written by Japanese theologian Masao Takenaka. Itwas so beautiful, so appropriate for our time, and such a perfect way to start the new day and the new week, I thought I’d share it here today.

Peace for your day, peace for your week, friends.

Holmes Lake Tree

Eternal God, we say good morning to you —
Hallowed be your name.

Early this morning,
before we...

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Published on November 22, 2015 17:32

November 19, 2015

Social Media Doesn’t Define You {No Matter How Pretty the Word Pictures Are}

Yesterday I didone of those gimmicky Facebook games– I am such a sucker for gimmicky Facebook games. This one promised to create a picture comprised of the words I use most often in my Facebook posts. Cool, I thought,sign me up!

So here are my results:

Screenshot 2015-11-18 18.58.09

I didn’t think too much of it at first. I was pleased God got in there…that seemed important for a “Christian writer.” I did, however, find ita little frightening thatHewas competing neck and neck with “book” and “blog.” That didn’t seem quite...

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Published on November 19, 2015 03:00

November 17, 2015

Because We’re Better Together Than We Are On Our Own

DSC_0055

Last weekI received an email from Suzy, one of the coordinators who is organizing details for an event I’m speaking at in December. She sent me the guidelines for putting together my PowerPoint presentation.

The problem was, when I opened the document, it might as well have beenwritten in Czech. All I saw wereunfamiliar acronyms, instructions for resolution, and percentages for “action safe” margins. There were even diagrams with arrows. It probably goes without saying, but diagrams with arr...

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Published on November 17, 2015 03:00

November 12, 2015

Sitting on a Bench for Five Minutes a Day

leafandsun

I started a new thing this week. A small thing, really. When I walk the dog every afternoon, I stop and sit on a park bench for five minutes.

That’s it. I sit for five minutes; that’s my new thing.

The bench is new. It appeared this summer, fastened onto a concrete slab, a memorial plaque on the ground beneath the seat. It overlooks a field of prairie-ish grass, a small ravine, a couple of oak trees, a Scotch pine. In the summer the field and ravine are speckled with black-eyed susans and Qu...

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Published on November 12, 2015 03:00

November 10, 2015

When You Forget You Don’t Have to be Perfect

ImperfectLeaf

When I first returned to God and faith after a long time-out, I expected everything about me to be radically transformed as a result of my conversion. Once I claimed my faith, I assumed I would becomeA Topnotch Christian.

I was quickly disabused of that notion.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that although I’d proclaimed my faith in God, I was still the same flawed, fallible person I’d always been: prone to judge, glass half-empty, quick-tempered, impatient (I could go on).

For a while...

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Published on November 10, 2015 03:00

November 7, 2015

Weekend One Word: Stifle

Stifle

At first thought, it doesn’t seem like the Holy Spirit could be stifled, right? I mean, the Holy Spirit iswind and movement and a force. It acts on its own accord. No one can predict where the wind will blow.How could such a wild, untamed presence be stifled?

But I’ve been thinking about this verse since I read it last week, and I’m changing my tune a bit. I think I can stifle the Holy Spirit. In fact, I think I’ve been stifling the Holy Spirit for a good long while now.

Let me explain.

I ha...

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Published on November 07, 2015 07:57

November 4, 2015

Sometimes You Just Need a Little Library in Your Yard

DSC_0011

I watched from my office window this morning as a man stopped in front of my house. He unlatched the door of the tiny turquoise structure that’s perched on a post outside the picket fence and ducked his head out of sight. When he resumed his walk, his Labrador straining the leash, golden river birch leaves falling at his feet, the man held a book in his hand.

From the moment I caught my first glimpse of a Little Free Library (LFL) – the one at the curb on Sheridan Boulevard, a miniature repl...

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Published on November 04, 2015 03:00

November 3, 2015

God Doesn’t Promise Bad Things Won’t Happen

leaf and bud

Public speaking is not my favorite part of my job, namely because I am afraid of it. Thus, I typically prepare for an event weeks in advance, writing out my talk, practicing it out loud multiple times in the kitchen while my dog stretches out at my feet, tweaking it and then tweaking it some more.

I also make sure I have detailed directions to the event location, my books and bags packed the night before, my clothes laid out, and my water bottle filled and waiting in the fridge.

My husband B...

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Published on November 03, 2015 03:00