Month: August 2026
Practicing Presence in a Distracted World
Practicing presence in a distracted world can be difficult. We are constantly being pulled in one direction and then another. We begin to focus, and suddenly an email comes in. The kids need to be picked up. The phone rings. Something else needs our attention. So how do we practice presence? First, what is…
What Are You Refusing To Surrender?
Surrender to God Surrender. When I hear that word, I think of war. I think of the end of something. I think of defeat. I also think of Jesus on the cross. Even then, we talk about His giving up His life for us. And while surrender may actually mean giving up, it is…
The Difference between Sillence and Solitude
Silence Before Solitude Standing on the mountain, looking out at the valley below, I could see where I had come from hours before. The climb had been difficult and long. None of that mattered now as my toes hung just over the edge of Flint Mill Rock. This was not a dream hike. It…
Same Desire. Different Path.
When God Redirects What We Want Sometimes we ask God to change what we want. We recognize that a desire has taken hold of us. Maybe it has become too important. Maybe we have built too much of our life around it. Maybe we know that what we want isn’t what God wants for…
Learning to Hear God Without Noise
Noise comes at us from every direction. Some noise can be helpful: Christian podcasts, worship music, sermons, Christian radio. Other noise can distract us: traffic, home life, work, school. I often hear people talk about filtering the noise. Rarely do I hear someone say they want to silence the noise and actually mean it.…
The Mountain Has Its Own Weather
Fall is creeping in. You can feel it some mornings before the calendar says it should be here. The air is a little cooler. The fog hangs a little differently. The forest feels like it is beginning to turn toward another season. But in East Tennessee, the transition between seasons is rarely clean. This…
The Direction of Your Desires
What are you pursuing? Every trail leads somewhere. That seems obvious when you’re standing at a trailhead with a map in your hands. If you follow one path long enough, you’ll arrive at its destination. The trail doesn’t decide where it is going while you walk. It was already leading somewhere. Our lives are…
Every Step Takes You Closer
Pay attention to where you’re walking I finally made it out to Morrell Trail this morning. It is not far from home, and I have been wanting to hike it since moving here a few months ago. After a short drive down an unpaved back road, I pulled the truck over, grabbed my pack,…
Why Silence Feels So Uncomfortable At first
Silence is uncomfortable. There are movies built around this idea. There is something about true silence that makes us uncomfortable. We seek noise, distraction, anything except silence. From the moment of conception our lives are filled with noise. We learn our mother’s heart beat, our father’s voice. Then we are welcomed into a world…