DEEP WATERS

This week I watched "Dead Poets Society." A lover of quotes, this movie was made for nerds like me. I've been quoting lines from the movie ever since. I offer you one here, delivered by John Keating (played by Robin Williams), an English teacher at a prestigious prep school for boys: "Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, 'Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.' Don't be resigned to that. Break out!" Do you strive to find your own voice in the world? Have you ever felt that "quiet desperation"? Have you known the urge to "break out" of the mold of your life? I believe there are two facets to this need, this desire, this desperation. 1. We are called to something bigger than ourselves As far back as I can remember, when I was but a little pigtailed girl in Baltimore, Maryland, I've believed that there...

This week my mind returned to the issue of race in our country. I've recently written about race as I revisited the  20th Anniversary of the Rodney King riots . (Coincidentally, this same Rodney King was  found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool on June 17. Rest in peace, Mr. King) Our Sons Are Trayvon examined the balance of justice and mercy in the racially-charged  murder trial of George Zimmerman. I've also written about results of the 2010 US Census and what those results predict about the changing face - literally - of our country. And of course I had to write about that book that had us all talking about the history of race in the South, The Help. Recently two occurrences got me thinking about race once again: one being the  election of the first African American president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the second being my husband's participation in a local panel examining and discussing race relations in our community. Let's take a l...

Happy Siblings: Jada, Christian and Joelle When I share my heart on the topic of adoption, I usually don’t know where to begin. My compassionate heart for orphans – around the corner and around the world, as I say – was truly birthed out of my heart for God. When I view God’s heart in the scriptures, I see a loving, merciful God Who continually looks out for the underdog. The poor, the alien, the widow – and yes, the orphan – may oftentimes go overlooked by the world. But the poor, the alien, the widow and the orphan are much like Hagar, mistreated by her master Abraham’s wife, Sarai. In Genesis 16:7 we find Hagar alone in the desert, having fled her tormentor’s home. She is hungry. She is thirsty. She is completely alone in the world. Or so she thinks. While she withers under the desert sun, the angel of the Lord visits Hagar and speaks life to her. He tells her she is expecting Abraham’s son and that her descendents would one day be too numerous to ...