The Ridiculous Hour

In her book Compelled by Love, Heidi Baker, a missionary in Mozambique, describes a condition we may all have. Or perhaps a touch of. She calls it an orphan spirit. In the Lord, we are adopted children with full access to everything in our Father's house but we live as if the things of God are for the special kids or the ones who really belong in the house or the ones He loves better. What we...

Imposter syndrome plagues writers. No matter how many times you try to talk them off the ledge or give them a pep talk, they wonder if their words are gonna sound like a whole lot of "blah blah blah" to the reader. But it isn't just writers, it's most folks with a story to tell. If we are found in the Lord, that includes us! We have an amazing story to tell. Not because we are el...

The racetrack ride at Disney – The Speedway to Tomorrowland – is shockingly real to a kid. Bright popping colorful cars, twisty tracks, revving engines, low leather bucket seats and nobby rubber steering wheels all feel so real. But it’s the actual ride that eventually brings deeper meaning to the concept of “real.” We steer our cars too hard to the left and… THUNK… we hit the guardrail at the cen...

Ever ironed a crease in the wrong spot in a garment? Once that crease gets set and cool, it's pretty challenging to press it out, isn't it? Dry cleaners actually use special tags to make sure a crease doesn't end up where one doesn't belong. They say CREASE and NO CREASE. And if they miss the mark [which we all sometimes do], there's a tag for that too -- DO-OVER. You can buy t...

We've all said it. Under our breath. In our heads. On our knees. To a trusted friend in whispered tones. "I didn't sign up for this! " At the start, we genuinely want in. At the startline, we are focused on the rightness of the endeavor, or the possibilities for the future, or the hope or promise or prize, or just something better... And then it gets hard, or impossible, or incon...

Some say when we pray for patience, God allows challenges and tests. How else would one know the presence of patience if not by circumstances that require it? During a challenge, as our agitation builds, we look at the person getting on our last nerve, and we blame them for our disquietude. But then that prayer for patience rises in our memory, and we wonder "could that be YOU Lord?" Our...

Have you seen that viral social media post with the eight-year-old in the car with Mom? 8YO: “Do you want me to throw the confetti in my pocket?” Mom: “No not in the car! – why do you have confetti in your pocket?” 8yo: “It’s my emergency confetti, I carry it everywhere in case there is good news.” It makes us warm but it also makes us pause. Most of us can relate to the mother who worries more ab...

When we are invited to a dinner with fancy napkins, we know there's something more than food being served. We know that we will be fed by something else. Something with meaning. Something deeper. Our mission story this month begins with a tribute to the co-founder of a food pantry in South Florida. Long before Tricia Heng started that pantry, she was a struggling single mom who received a bask...

Our story this month begins with a five-time Emmy winning sports producer who moves from a big city to Boise Idaho to start a family and a family business: "I went from a bustling city working 60 hours a week in a high-profile job that held spotlights on ratings, followers, likes, clicks, views and awards to a small town where they drove slowly, didn’t know my name, and preferred ‘Calvin’s mo...

You ARE (fill in the blank) is very different than you MUST BE something. Or you HAVE something. Think about these you are statements... If you got the news... You ARE now a Florida Gator ... you wouldn't keep submitting your college application, would you? When you grow up hearing your parents say... You ARE our precious child ... you wouldn't try to prove your status as a daughter or son...

The phrase mid-life is curious, isn't it? Especially when we have no way of knowing where the middle will be. Which is why mid-life tends to have us reinforcing holes. Asking questions like: “What have I left undone?” “What should I be doing in the time I have left?” Our mission story begins with an invite to give a TED-style talk and how it moved a mid-lifer to face a stereotype he hid behind...

There is a truth that would make most of us viscerally nod our heads up and down -- a phrase that tugs our heart strings when we pause to think about the folks who live this out in our lives -- a phrase that reaches a deep tender place... We long to be both fully known and still fully loved. Think about it. To be DEEPLY known, warts and all, and STILL deeply loved requires a great deal of trust on...

We are so fond of the phrase "life is a gift," and it is; but, the middle letters in both these words, life and gift, are IF. Both center on the ability to question. It's what sets us apart. Makes us human, right? If we aren't careful, we can fall into the trap of believing that questions and doubts are a sign of ingratitude. Or a lack of faith. If we aren't careful, we can s...

What is hope before it's tested? It's a funny question, isn't it? I mean, we know transformation happens between untested and tested hope, but what kind? C.S. Lewis focuses his answer on revelation in his book A Grief Observed: “God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn't." The Apostle Pa...

Waiting sounds like such a passive thing, doesn't it? The act of waiting. You let time pass until the wait is over and then you go on, right? Sometimes we do, but not always. Not when it's the hardest kind of waiting. Not when it is the kind of waiting where you have zero control over the outcome and the outcome will seriously impact your life. You have a routine medical test. You get that...

I'm too old. I'm too young. I'm too inexperienced. I'm too poor. I don't have any talents. I'm too tired. I'm too busy. I'm not creative. I'm not bold. I'm afraid. I'm not fixed enough. I'm not ready. I'm not equipped. I'm not good at anything special. I'm afraid to fail. I'm shy. I don't have anything special to add. I don't have any unique skills. I don't know where to start... Tell this to Marg...

In 1964 a father penned a bedtime story for his sons called Flat Stanley. In it, Stanley is flattened by a falling bulletin board which makes it possible for him to be sent through the postal service in an envelope to a friend in another state. He returns in a fresh new envelope full of stories about his time with friends. Strangely, this seems like such an apt description of what we've become soc...

We buy planners this time of year. Preprinted commercial books that give space for yearly goals, monthly calendars, daily plans. We are given room to write and then check off our accomplishments. Set our top priorities. Even schedule our days by 30 minute increments. Doesn't it seem a bit odd that there isn't a box anywhere on those tools for detours? For the unplanned moments when our steps are i...

Our mission story this month starts with a little girl who communicates through sign language a desperate desire for more time with her grandmother and ends with a sign language word that we may decide to use for the rest of our lives to remind ourselves and others that there is always more with God! Curious? We sure hope so! Join Kat Silverglate, founder of The Mobile Mission Project at The Ridic...

Have you ever seen a team lift? A group of people reaching the least, the lost and the lonely TOGETHER! It's beautiful thing to witness isn't it? You see from afar that God is working through that team, but you hang back because it wasn't the burning bush moment you where hoping for.  Or what about this: God puts an idea in your heart that is beyond your personal capacity. You immediately thi...

Do you give your trust to God in difficult circumstances and then find yourself fretting, worrying, and spinning? Do you give it to Him and then take it back? Do you give it to Him again and then wonder why you couldn't resist the urge to snatch it back? Do you give it to Him yet again and then find yourself surprised at the fact that you are holding it? "Why am I holding this? I already gave that...

Are you a resizer? You feel a nudge, a poke, a prompt a call from the Lord and immediately decide it's the wrong size? "Oh no Lord, that's way outside my comfort zone. Can you resize that? Make it medium please. Just squarely in the middle of my natural talents and abilities. I know how to use those." Or you want something bigger, so your resize request sounds more like this: "I want to make a REA...

Ever notice how some truths seem to go together? Stating one without the counterpart leaves you wanting to complete the thought. Truth #1 : Truth without love is brutality. We've all experienced a brutally honest person who delivers hard truth with zero love, zero compassion, and negative zero empathy. At best we put up our armor and fight back. At worst we leave with a gaping wound that swallows...

Ever had to eat your words? Tasted the bitter fruit of words spoken a little too quickly? Rashly? Carelessly? We all have! But you know what? We've all done something else too. Something powerful and delicious. We've tasted the sweet fruit of life-giving words. Encouraging words. Even hard truthful words spoken with deep love and right motives. What if the phrase, "I ate my words" signaled a delic...

Our story this month begins with a spectacular gift that accidentally ended up on the trash heap and ends with a tree hospital for the deadest of orchids. Curious? We sure hope so! Join the Founder of the Mobile Mission Project at The Ridiculous Hour Foundation , Kat Silverglate, as we find a way to pause in the brittle dry places of life and attach to the source of all life. If you'd like to lear...