The word means without precedent, never having happened before. There’s no map, no template, nothing to go on. That’s not true.

I realized she was a special person, then a precious individual, then after a time and observation, I realized she was a woman who loved unconditionally.

We are currently being nasty to one another and getting absolutely nowhere except deeper into the divide.

What would happen if we stopped? If you stopped? If I stopped?

Killing babies is not a political perspective. It is a human issue.

Eventually, this broke a water pipe feeding one of the toilets and I heard the water running.

If this circus wasn’t occurring in America, I would find it fascinating. Fascinating in the awkward way a voyeur must feel looking from the outside in. 

I realized that pretending everything is okay when it is not is a lie. 

Every now and then, Father gets stuck on an idea and obsesses about it with me for a long time. Lately, every time I ask Him if He has any counsel for me, He has been saying the same thing: “Love, Preston.”

My agnostic friend offered interesting counsel. Sitting by the fire with me, he said, “Preston, you have to embrace the security that must exist between you and your God and live there, untouchable as a person, regardless of what anyone might say about you.” 

All was well.  The only difference between the daylight of tomorrow and the darkness enveloping the bedroom was that I couldn't see.  But that didn't alter the fact that I was secure.   

Is the reputation of darkness all that it's cracked up to be?  Is darkness really that deep?  Is it honestly the absence of light, especially the light of Christ?  Are our only options to hunker down and wait for morning or cut and run in any direction hoping to stumble upon a flicker of light somewhere in the dark? 

How dark was it?  So dark that I couldn't see my brother, eighteen inches away, or even my hand in front of my face.  

In time, their wings grow stronger and their independence more confident.

God does not claim to be incrementally present one moment and absent the next. He claims to be constant right now.

Snake heads raised from the coils, cocked to strike. Tongues flicked and rattles buzzed, “Don’t tread on me!”

Storms are common in today’s waters. But every now and then, circumstances converge into a perfect storm of physical, personal, and spiritual chaos. 

Father will not waste a single moment of distress. Not one tear will be lost to Him. 

I called out from the cacophony and said, “Father! Do you have any guidance for me? Is there something from your vantage point I can relay to my friends?”