While at a water park with some friends we attempted to navigate a floating obstacle course made of inflatable platforms The bouncy slippery platforms made walking straight almost impossible As we wobbled our way across ramps cliffs and bridges we found ourselves yelping as we fell unceremoniously into the water After completing one course my friend completely exhausted leaned on one of the ldquo towers rdquo to catch her breath Almost immediately it buckled under her weight sending her hurtling into the water Unlike the flimsy towers at the water park in Bible times a tower was a stronghold for [... more]

There are several Canada goose families with baby geese at the pond near our apartment complex The little goslings are so fluffy and cute it rsquo s hard not to watch them when I go for a walk or run around the pond But I rsquo ve learned to avoid eye contact and give the geese a wide berth mdash otherwise I risk a protective goose parent suspecting a threat and hissing and chasing me The image of a bird protecting her young is one that Scripture uses to describe God rsquo s tender protective love for His children Psalm [... more]

Author and theologian Russell Moore described noticing the eerie silence in the Russian orphanage where he adopted his boys Someone later explained that the babies had stopped crying because they learned that no one would respond to their cries When we face difficult times we too can feel that no one hears And worst of all we can feel that God Himself doesn rsquo t listen to our cries or see our tears But he does And that rsquo s why we need the language of petition and protest found in the psalms The psalmists petition for God rsquo s [... more]