"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2

Sometimes God's mercy is shown most poignantly through our suffering. For me, it has been through my struggle with chronic illness that God has been shaping my "branches" so to speak. I'm learning to maintain a long-view for the often painful process of God "pruning" away...

            Some months ago, I was diagnosed with a chronic "invisible illness" to which there is currently no cure. For now, it's called "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis" and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). It is referred to as an "invisible illness" because on the outside it can look as though nothing is wrong. High functioning patients have good days and bad and can often mask or push through symp...

"I Come to the end 

Face down in my fear

You have led me here"

         Before they were my song lyrics, these words were a desperate scrawl, penned, through tears, in that "valley" place that David so often wrote about, where we find ourselves completely undone, dethroned, the chair kicked out from underneath us.

       The shadow the mountain casts is cold. We long to be in its warmth again, b...

       Last week, Good Friday, in the midst of one of the busiest weeks of the year for musicians in the church, I was hurriedly tucking my 3-year-old into bed, anxious to steal a few moments of practice while she napped. Every afternoon, she asks me to rest with her for a bit. That day, I just wanted to get her down quickly. I sighed impatiently when she asked me to stay. Mere hours away from rehearsal and "go time,"  I worri...