Kept


“Do not forsake wisdom and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.” Proverbs 4:6


A Miss Understanding

A Message to Young Women from a Could-Have-Been Trans Man   Sometimes, my sisters would call me John. I hated all things girly. The only Barbie I owned was Western Barbie because she wore pants and had a truck & trailer. My most memorable Christmas gift was a...

Day 7: Six Miles Short of a Savior

Though the narrative of the Wise Men’s journey contains epic adventure, big-time players, a supernatural cosmic phenomenon, and God in the flesh, one of the most striking parts of the entire account is what doesn’t happen. When a perturbed Herod assembles the Jewish...

Day 6: Respond If You Please

Growing up, many of us would learn about the wise men, but have we ever considered that we could learn from them? God’s invitation to a human heart requires a response, and the wise men show us how it’s done. They Seek. Throughout our entire text, the wise men seek...

Day 5: A Long Time Coming

After their secret conference with Herod, the wise men took his advice and turned toward Bethlehem. Up to this point, one could argue that their getting this far was merely happenstance. Jewish exiles happened to talk about the future promises of their God. These...

Day 4: The Last Leg

A new star. Ancient scrolls. Legends of a rising king handed down through generations of wise men from a revered, transplanted sage. These components got the wise men so far, but not far enough. The capital city seemed like a logical destination to visit a new Hebrew...

Day 3: I See the Light

Day 3: I See the Light Long ago, in a land far away, a wealthy, Persian caravan encamps outside Jerusalem. Distinguished, educated men move through the capital city asking about the location of the new king who was announced by an extraterrestrial abnormality. This is...

Day 2: Oh, It’s Personal

DAY 2: Oh, It's Personal This is a tale of two invitations. A new star appears and is noticed by a group of sage-astrologer-scientist types in Persia. The wise men may not have been the only folks to notice the new star – after all, since Creation, new stars just...

Day 1: More to the Story

Day 1: MORE TO THE STORY “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith...

An Optical Conclusion

Years ago, one of our daughters was struggling in a high school math class.  Employing a tutor to assist her, we came to discover something very important - she couldn’t easily distinguish between an addition and a division sign.  Turns out, that’s important. You see,...

Don’t Say No

“Older women … are to teach what is good, and so train the young women…” Titus 2:3-4a As a young woman, I remember lamenting with another woman about the lack of willing or available older women in our church at the time, who could help us journey this noble but...