My boys smiled at me as I cried, and then proceeded to spin to the music while screaming at the top of their lungs. And, in that moment I tasted joy; joy unexplainable. A joy so deep and unexpected, it can only be explained as supernatural. I felt the presence of God in that very moment. God telling me, “Nothing Stands Between Us!”
Read More Nothing Stands Between UsToday is New Years Eve. The year 2020 is about to become 2021, again reminding us that time does not stand still. Time continues to move on. Through pandemics, through economic crises, through natural disasters, time doesn’t stop. Humans keep growing older, and the universe keeps slowly dying. 2020, to most, has made this truth evermore clear. Our world is fickle; humans are frail; and suffering is ever present. And, even though suffering seems more present in 2020, I can assure you that as long as time keeps moving forward, so will human suffering.
Read More Still Falls the Rain…I remember Christ’s death on Good Friday, celebrate Christ’s resurrection with joy on Easter, then immediately go back to experiencing sorrow and pain by remembering my Father’s death. It is like reaching a beautiful mountain top only to have a storm roll in and quickly rush you off, having you descend in darkness and experience fear.
I’m sure this is how much of the world feels now during this current pandemic. Much of the world together remembered Christ’s death and then celebrated his resurrection this Easter Sunday only to wake up Monday morning to the Covid-19 storm clouds rolling in.
Read More A THRONE IN DARKNESS: remembering my Father’s death after celebrating Easter“When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for the joy that a human being has been born into the world.” – John 16:21 In the creation story, God curses the human race for its sin […]
Read More A Beautiful Curse: Reflections on PregnancyPhoto Credit: Philippe Wojazer / Reuters Saturday morning my wife, Stephanie, and I with our friends and family celebrated the new life and coming birth of our twin sons, Abel James and August John Elliott. Gray clouds covered the sky, and a steady rain fell on the ground, a typical spring day in the South Puget […]
Read More As the Ruin Falls: Pain & Beauty; Destruction & ResurrectionIt is Saturday morning. With the sun gently peeking into our room, my wife and I simply lay in bed talking, dreaming about our present and future life. Where in the world will we visit? Where will we live? What will our hobbies be in five years? What jobs do we really want? What will […]
Read More On Gardens: A Meditation on MarriageJohn Francis Elliot, my father, died twenty years ago on this day: Where were you at my soccer games? Where were you at my high school graduation? Where were you when I graduated college with honors? Where were you when I joined my soul with my wife in marriage? Where were you? Where […]
Read More 20 YearsIn mid-November this past year, I completely tore my ACL and partially tore my meniscus. This injury made my knee so weak. There were times when I was simply walking after that I would turn too fast, my knee would lock, and I would stumble to the ground. Defeated and weak I knew that I […]
Read More My Broken Body: An Easter MeditationFriendship is an intricate thing. We form friendships for a variety of reason, often on how we value a person. You befriend someone because they make you laugh and have the same interests as you. Other times you befriend someone because they make you think, and they challenge your worldview. Sometimes you form a friendship […]
Read More My Friend, Dale.“The heart knows its own bitterness…” – Proverbs 14:10 Social media, and American society itself, increasingly seems to be morphing into a platform and arena of projected bitterness. Our democratic republic is facing a high intensity of polarization. Bickering and violent protests are everywhere. So, the question we must ask is whether the bitterness on […]
Read More A Bitterness unto Death
