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What is the season of Lent about? At its core, Lent is about letting Jesus change us so that we can follow him more closely, just as he changed his first disciples. In the Gospels, we meet many inspiring disciples. Some left their families to follow Jesus. Some left their livelihoods. Others went so far as to give up their lives for the sake of Jesus and his gospel. So many heroic witnesses! More »
It had been a long, fruitless night. Simon and his brother, Andrew, had been out fishing on the lake, but the fish weren’t biting. Now they were on the shore with all the other fishermen, cleaning their nets. Simon couldn’t wait to be done. He was looking forward to a good breakfast and a few hours’ sleep. Some nights were like that. Perhaps tomorrow they would have better luck. More »
The sun was climbing higher in the sky, and Peter was getting more restless by the moment. He had listened to Jesus’ preaching, but he was tired, hungry, and thirsty. What he really wanted was to row Jesus back to shore and head home for some food and rest. More »
Peter rowed out into deep water and lowered his nets, just as Jesus had told him to do. Almost immediately, he felt a tremendous tug. With great effort, he and his brother, Andrew, began hauling in the nets. Then their jaws dropped in astonishment. How could there be so many fish? The nets were breaking! As he watched the squirming fish piling on top of one another, Peter began to worry about the boat. Was it in danger of sinking? More »
If you could enter a time machine and travel through Edith Stein’s life, you would see many versions of her as time passed. In 1893, you would see a tearful two-year-old standing at her father’s funeral. Two years later, you would see a spunky four-year-old playing with her cousins in the family lumberyard. In subsequent years, you would see a sensitive child immersed in the Jewish faith and a questioning teenager who had set aside Judaism, determined to rely on herself. More »
It was a dark and stormy night. No, this is not the start of a cheesy horror story. It is, however, the start of a story that took place on a dark and stormy night. This particular night, a surprisingly violent and dangerous nor’easter was attacking the New Jersey coast. My husband and I were driving through the blinding rain, the road illuminated briefly by intense flashes of lightning accompanied by thunderous booms overhead. It was not a night to be out, and we were anxious to get home. More »
I grew up surrounded by disorder, drugs, alcohol, and little discipline. That instability was compounded by bullying, abuse, isolation, bad mistakes on my part, and a variety of betrayals and losses beyond my control. All of this chaos spun inside of me like a tornado. In March 1991, I flew out of control and killed someone. I went to prison for life. More »