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weary, Overwhelmed, Anxiety, Spiritual Growth, Christian walk, Waiting Dana Rongione weary, Overwhelmed, Anxiety, Spiritual Growth, Christian walk, Waiting Dana Rongione

Choked by the Yoke

All my life, I've been a tortoise.

I'm slow. When I do something, I do it carefully, methodically, and with extreme attention to detail. I'm not fast at anything, and I never have been. In middle school, I earned the nickname "Dead Stop." A teacher gave me that one. (Nothing says "bless your heart" like a faculty-approved nickname.)

But a strange thing happens when my schedule fills up and the demands start stacking like dirty dishes. Suddenly, I think I'm a hare. My body is still a tortoise, and my mindset is still slow and steady. Yet I feel I must zip around like the Road Runner, because surely that's the only way everything will get done. Beep beep!

On those mornings, my prayer goes something like this:

"Lord, I have so much to do today, but I know I don't have to do it alone. You are my strength. My times are in Your hands.

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Lonely, Overwhelmed, Weary, Comfort, Encouragement, God's goodness, Rise Up and Build, Deadly Darts of the Devil Dana Rongione Lonely, Overwhelmed, Weary, Comfort, Encouragement, God's goodness, Rise Up and Build, Deadly Darts of the Devil Dana Rongione

Jacob’s Rock-Bottom Dream

If I were Jacob, I'd be grumpy. His brother wants him dead (not that he didn't bring that on himself). He's left home with little more than a walking stick, and the sun has gone down in the middle of nowhere. There's no inn and no pillow. So he does what any desperate traveler would do and grabs a rock. Comfy, huh? Genesis 28:11 says he put the stones "for his pillows." Plural. Rocks everywhere, and not a memory-foam mattress in sight.

Then comes the dream. A ladder stands on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. Angels go up and down like rush hour at a holy train station. At the top stands the LORD Himself, who makes Jacob a promise:

"And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest... for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (Genesis 28:15)

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Spiritual discernment, Spiritual Growth, Counsel Dana Rongione Spiritual discernment, Spiritual Growth, Counsel Dana Rongione

Truth or Tradition?

Over the years, I've heard some strange things from the pulpit. Not merely differences in preference, mind you, but teachings built on assumptions, verses taken out of context, or ideas not found in the Bible at all. Yes, I've sat through many sermons squirming in my seat (and not just because of my back pain) and biting my tongue because the eloquent and educated speaker sounded good, but what he was saying simply wasn't biblical.

Now, before anyone sharpens a pitchfork, let me be clear: preachers, teachers, speakers, and Christian writers are human. We make mistakes. I know I have. I have taught or written things in the past that I believed were correct, but further study showed me I missed the mark. That is humbling. It's also slightly inconvenient when you've put the mistake in print for all the world to see. Yikes!

That is exactly why I regularly tell my readers and Bible-study students, "Check up on me."

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the Bible, God's Word, the Word of God, Doubt, Confidence Dana Rongione the Bible, God's Word, the Word of God, Doubt, Confidence Dana Rongione

Has Science Disproved the Bible?

Have you ever noticed how confident people sound right before they are proven wrong?

Sadly, many people (Christians included) have a habit of nodding along when someone says, "Scientific evidence disproves many portions of the Bible." After all, it sounds so official. Somebody with a doctorate, a documentary, and a dramatic voice has assured us that science is right and the Bible is wrong.  And the “simple-minded” folks (like me) who still believe the Bible is completely true are merely behind the times and haven’t yet caught up with the scientific advancements.  

Really?  That’s not how I see it.  In fact, I believe the opposite, based on the following historical evidence.

Let’s start with a group of people called the Hittites. For a long time, the Hittites were a scholarly punchline.

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Encouragement, Comfort, trials, Weary, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione Encouragement, Comfort, trials, Weary, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione

When You’ve Prayed, Planted, and Still See No Fruit

I've become a bit of a field-watcher lately, and I promise it's not as strange as it sounds. As I've mentioned, there's a pasture directly behind our house here in Wales. Over the past several months, I've had a front-row seat to its entire transformation, and let me tell you, it's been quite the show.

It started out gorgeous. Tall grasses waved in the breeze like something out of a storybook, and I'd look out my window and think, Well, isn't that just lovely? It was rhythmic and calming, much like watching ocean waves. Honestly, I could have watched that field sway all day.

Then one morning, I looked out, and the grasses were gone, cut clean down. What had been lush and lovely was now dry, short, and a little sad-looking. I remember thinking, Well, that's depressing!

But the field wasn't finished with its dramatic arc. Next came the manure.

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