Author: Julie Silander

Drowning Doesn’t Always Look Like Drowning

For the months of February through April we’ve invited several people to give you a peek into the new directions God has called The Barnabas Center.  We hope these directions will be encouraging and that you’ll resonate with the needs and hopes that are being shared. In May we’ll be back online with our usual thematic blog posts. ————————————————————————————-———————- It’s a horrible scene – someone having ventured into water too deep and current too strong – the human body facing forces that it can’t overcome.  Drowning is the fifth leading… Continue reading Drowning Doesn’t Always Look Like Drowning

My Word for 2014. What’s Yours?

  It’s January. Time for hitting the gym, cleaning up our diet, getting finances squared away, wrapping up the to-do list, catching up with friends, and cracking open the new devotional. Or not. I’ve resolved not to make New Year’s resolutions. Years ago, the idea offended me. Why would we wait until January to take account of how we should be living the rest of the year? Daily, I should be considering and prioritizing how I spend my time and energies. Not annually – daily. But a less-dogmatic, more-tired version… Continue reading My Word for 2014. What’s Yours?

Twin Towers and a Manger

  Where were you? I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom holding my beautiful one-week-old son. We had been home from the hospital for only a few days, and I was fully intoxicated with the sweet smells of a newly-bathed baby, the feel of his slow, steady breathing on my neck, and the slight, warm pressure of eight pounds of perfection curled up and sleeping on my chest. My two-year-old was playing contentedly in the corner with his plastic pet shop, a previously discarded, recently rediscovered toy, compliments… Continue reading Twin Towers and a Manger

Miracle

My chin hit the pavement. The compact area of flesh and bone, no more than a few inches in total, absorbed the impact of my entire body in unhindered free fall. I was certain that my jaw was broken. Scene I – The Fall Last week, after several days’ procrastination, I could no longer deny the call of Eden-like autumn weather. I laced up my shoes and set out for a quick run. One step, then two. As I’d taken a thousand times before. But step three threw a rather… Continue reading Miracle

Less than Ideal

  It’s been a hard month at our house. I’m not sure when the tone started taking a turn – I think sometime late summer. Life had been moving swiftly down the track, a rhythmic clickety-clacking through each sports event, date night, business meeting, and coffee with friends. Yet the track ahead had a sharp bend – one I didn’t see coming. Clackety-click shifted into an ominous creekety-lurchety screech. It didn’t sound good. My child who loves and breathes activity developed a sharp pain in his foot that wouldn’t go… Continue reading Less than Ideal

Common Denominator

  Do you remember how to add and subtract fractions? My daughter’s initial attempts were frustrating. It seemed obvious to her that 3/4 + 2/3 should equal 5/7. Only it doesn’t. As I explained to her, before the fractions can “talk to each other” they have to be translated into the same “language.” Solving such problems involves a preliminary step. In order to find the “same language”, we need to find the common denominator. I often feel a grown-up version of her frustration – when life doesn’t work as it… Continue reading Common Denominator

A Thousand Words

Moments before showing my husband’s “milestone” birthday video to a group of dear friends, I read the following.  If you listen beyond the words, you’ll hear a faint whisper echoing ancient truths of struggle, redemption and ultimate rest… “A picture is worth a thousand words” the saying goes… As we crack open the dusty albums of our memories, we take a few minutes to stroll through the snapshots that comprise our lives. Each picture has a story – a prologue, a theme, and an afterword.  We see frozen moments in… Continue reading A Thousand Words

Posture

I recently had an ugly fall while running. I lost a layer of skin on my hand, mobility of my jaw, and a modicum of dignity. I gained six stitches squarely at the base of my chin and a healthy fear of pavement. Months later, I’m grateful to report that the external injuries are no longer visible. My body had totally healed. Almost. Despite my recovery, one nagging reminder of the painful incident remained. My jaw wouldn’t close completely – at least not without intentional effort. It’s amazing what we… Continue reading Posture

Full Circle

This post originally appeared on the blog www.greenertrees.net in May of 2011.  We are grateful to Julie Silander for granting us permission to reprint it here:   This weekend we head to Johnson City (my hometown) for our oldest daughter’s wedding.  I know what some of you are thinking – I’m not old enough to have a daughter getting married.  Technically, I am.  But this daughter is one born of my heart, not my body.  At the tender age of 24, I married David, who had 2 small children.  Ashley… Continue reading Full Circle

Peter’s Dilemma

“Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house.  But Peter followed at a distance.  Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.  And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently and said, ‘This man was also with Him.’ But he denied Him, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know Him.’ And after a little while another saw him and said, ‘You also are of them.’ But… Continue reading Peter’s Dilemma