Michelle DeRusha's Blog, page 53
March 22, 2014
March 21, 2014
When You Beat Yourself Up for Being a Bad Christian
I sigh and examine my fingernails as my husband talks with the saleswoman. She is unable to answer a single question we have about the tan sofa we are considering on the showroom floor. “I’m sorry,” she stutters, “I don’t usually work in furniture. Adam, the regular sales person in this department, will be back tomorrow. Can I give you his card?” My husband thanks her. I sigh again and cross my arms over my chest.
“Why aren’t we getting the couch?” Rowan asks, flopping onto the ottoman with th...
March 19, 2014
Sanctuary
Dog ownership has come with a few surprises, some good, some not-so-good.
Who knew, for instance, that dogs enjoy a rollicking roll in animal carcass? I discovered that on a walk last week when I felt a tug on the leash and glanced down to witness Josie rubbing her head in a motley pile of bones and wisps of fur. Please enlighten me on the evolutionary benefits of cozying up to a dead rodent. I’m kind of missing how all that jibes with the survival of the fittest.
Pile of smelly bones aside, Jo...
March 17, 2014
Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
We are taking a bit of Lenten quiet on Mondays here until Easter. I’m posting a verse, a devotion I wrote for my church’s Lenten booklet and a prayer. Peace be with you, lovely friends…
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me – and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the s...
March 15, 2014
March 14, 2014
When You Forget to Practice What You’ve Preached
Two weeks ago I arrived at the Carol Joy Holling Center for a women’s retreat. I was the keynote speaker slated for a two-hour session on Saturday evening. I’d prepared weeks for my talk, had my Bible packed into my suitcase, my notes tucked into my bag. I felt calm and cool and in control.
Until I checked in, that is.
“I have a really big favor to ask you,” the conference coordinator said as she handed me my room key card. “The worship leader has the flu. Do you think you could do the message...
March 12, 2014
Relinquish to Receive
On the evening of Ash Wednesday last week I handed over my sin to God. I have more than one sin, of course, but I zeroed in on just one, a biggie. I wrote a single word on a purple slip of paper and dropped it into the basket on my way up to the altar for communion. It felt good, giving God that sin. I felt relieved and unburdened. I experienced a taste of the freedom Paul talks about in his letter to the Galatians. I left the church energized, my soul clean and my heart renewed. Ash Wednesda...
March 10, 2014
Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: The Most Exquisite Gift
For the next six Sundays I will be posting the Sunday devotional that I wrote for my church’s Lent devotional booklet. These will be a little bit different than my usual style: a little more reflection and devotiony, a little less story-based. I’ll also start with a Scripture reading and end with a prayer. This is my way of stepping back from the blog a bit during this Lenten season – thank you for your grace.
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were...
March 8, 2014
March 7, 2014
Spiritual Misfit Needs YOU!
When I started to write my first book way back in 2006 I was an agnostic (on my best day). By the time I typed the last sentence two years later, God had used the book to bring me back to him.
There is simply no other explanation for it. I’d been away from God and religion for 20 years, but one morning long before dawn, I typed a sentence into a Word document. And then another and another. I couldn’t stop typing, and by the time my kids woke up that morning, I’d dug deep into a story I hadn’t...
