Blog
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On the Road: The Psalms of Ascent
Studies in Psalms 120-134, a set of pilgrimage songs.
Wayside Stops
Reflections prompted by life circumstances.
Holding the Flashlight
Assorted tips and helps for Bible study.
The Book of Daniel
Studies in Daniel 1-7 . . . where my blog began!
Recent Posts
Road-Trip Essentials, Part 1
When I moved across the country in 2012, I took several road-trip essentials with me, beginning with my sister Suzy, easily the world’s best moving buddy. I also took an array of maps, a bag of groceries, a stocked cooler, and my emergency cell phone—the one pictured...
Psalm 120–Roadside Reflection
The second post for each song of ascent features a video devotional from the Music Ministry of First United Methodist Church in Stephenville, Texas. These videos were a weekly devotional series during the 13 months that the church’s music ministry was apart during the...
Strawberry Summer
June has started on the cool side this year, delaying the official start to summer for me: the first day of strawberry season. As soon as I hear that the strawberry field is open, I'll be there. By midday, two flats of bright red berries will have taken over our...
Psalm 120—First Steps
The first post for each song of ascent consists of my translation (typically) and a song that helps me remember the words of the Psalm. Psalm 120 To Yahweh[1] in my distress I called and He answered me. Yahweh! Deliver me...
Psalms As Songs
My dad, in a longstanding tradition of fatherhood, sang silly songs. Waiting for the last dinner dish to arrive at the table, he’d sing, “Here we sit like birds in the wilderness…waiting for our food.” On Tuesdays, which was my sister Suzy’s day (Suz-day) in our...
Bumps, Barrels, and Backups
One summer I lived about fifteen miles and 500,000 orange barrels north of where the rest of my life took place. When I wanted to drive from home to church, I had to be either really creative or really patient – and sometimes both. When I wanted to drive from home to...
Singing As We Go (or What’s a Song of Ascents Anyway?)
Singing and travel go together. Whether we are merrily rowing along, going home on country roads, or leaving on a jet plane, something about going places brings the melodies out of us. Maybe it’s the lure of the adventure or the destination; maybe it’s the delight of...
The Trail Head
Psalms 120–134 make up the Psalms of Ascent, a collection of songs for the journey from where life is messed up to where it reflects God’s intended blessing for his people. I stumbled into the Psalms of Ascent when I was plodding through graduate school in Madison,...
Leave the Dust
We vacuum religiously at our house. Dusting is another story, but you wouldn’t know it from our shelf full of dusting supplies: fuzzy blue Norwex dusting mitts, a California Duster, cans of Endust and Pledge, a Swiffer duster, and a pile of rags big enough to suds the...
