March 2011 – Page 2 – 300 words a day

What God didn’t call you to – a repost

(This post was first published May 9, 2009.) Lots of people are wondering what God is calling them to do. And that is a good question. But on the way to the answer, we fill in many answers. So let me suggest some of the things that God did not call you to. You are […]

by Jon Swanson

A long obedience.

I used to teach college students about speech. I gave that up. Sometime in the mid-eighties, while I was doing that, I came across A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, a book by Eugene Peterson. I realized this week that it changed my life. Let me tell you why. At the college where I […]

by Jon Swanson

Nancy chopped off the roses today.

I’m looking out the window of my office as I write. Across the street is a guy with a hedge trimmer. He’s brutally chopping off the top of the bushes cowering the the corners of the fence. He just picked up loppers and is on his knees, hacking away at the base of a tree. […]

by Jon Swanson

A prayer for Monday

“Oh God.” That will be our prayer, God, many of us as we look at the clock for the first time on Monday morning, as we roll over and slap the alarm, as we feel the crush of realizing we have no idea where we left off in whatever projects are facing us. Hear our […]

by Jon Swanson

Sometimes there is nothing I can do

I want to help. I want to solve problems. I want to help you take care of whatever is going wrong. When someone calls with a question, with a concern, with a problem, I want to fix it. When someone is unhappy, I want to make them happy. When there is an earthquake, I want […]