As my brain was being scanned to rule out any spread of the breast cancer I was working so hard to eliminate, I struggled with claustrophobia and fear. I shifted my thoughts and began to pray. Almost immediately, I felt the unmistakeable peace and calm of God’s presence. It was nearly palpable, as if Jesus […]
Health
Dear Portia: How Do I Stop Desiring Bad Stuff?
Dear Portia, How do you stop wanting what you REALLY want, when what you want isn’t good for you? How do you create desire for something you should want, when really you are craving the opposite thing? Craving Dear Craving, When I was in my teens and twenties, I drank at least a can of […]
When Other People Think Your Kids Are Apples
Today my kids got these . . . I don’t know . . . lip spreaders at church. You know the ones I mean? The plastic thingies that pull your lips away from your gums and make you talk funny like you’re at the dentist? As we walked out of church, my kids start chanting […]
Masturbation: Difficult Conversations that We Need to Have with Our Children
The first week of seventh grade, our second son came home with a novel written by an unfamiliar author. Ever curious, I sat down to read it after he went to bed. About half way through, the narrator, an adolescent boy, began the chapter with this thought, “If God did not want boys to […]
Do You Really Want to Get Well?
The first time I came across the passage in John 5, I felt slightly irritated. Afterwards Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish religious holidays. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was Bethesda Pool, with five covered platforms or porches surrounding it. Crowds of sick folks—lame, blind, or with paralyzed limbs—lay on […]
Cure vs. Healing
I always thought Cure and Healing were synonymous, but I’m learning to redefine them. It’s like this: I used to enjoy going to the doctor. There was a big, old-fashioned rocking horse in the waiting room, which you could take a turn on. My mother pointed at my throat, the doctor put a lolly stick […]
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