literary living
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The Ideal Journaling Bible
I love my ESV Study Bible, which includes a wealth of contextual information, cross references, and (my favorite) charts. Throughout 2024 and 2025, I’ve also been enjoying the ESV Chronological Bible, which has given me a better understanding of the scope of Scripture. But as an avid annotator, I have struggled with the reality that Continue reading
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Simple Advice for Reading Scripture Aloud
My women’s Bible study focused on Revelation this spring. Revelation, the final book in the Bible, opens with this encouragement: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). Students of Continue reading
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The Goodness of Gardening Friends
“All my flower beds are filled with this ivy,” I texted two of my friends this afternoon. “Should I pull it or let it be? It’s pretty but seems to be taking over…” I snapped a picture to accompany my text, hoping as I sent it that my friends would reply, “Oh, that’s a rare Continue reading
author, blogger, blogging about gardening, Christian friendship, church friends, faith, faith and friendship, faith and gardening, flowers, friends, friendship, fruit of the Spirit, Fruitful Worship, fruitfulness, garden, gardening, gardening and faith, gardening lessons, goodness, honesty, iowa, Iowa life, lawn, learning, midwest living, nature, pulling weeds, spirit-filled singing, weeds, writer, writing, yard work -
Babylon is Being Used
When studying Revelation 16-17 a few weeks ago with my women’s Bible study, I noticed a typo on my study guide. I was dismayed to see that I had asked twice for my study members to analyze the differences between Babylon the prostitute (symbolic of worldliness) and the New Jerusalem and Bride of Christ. Fortunately, Continue reading
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Behold, Your Mother
My mom manages to fuse the Proverbs 31 woman’s virtues with Lorelei Gilmore’s hilarity. She’s the best. She taught me to think discerningly, apologize quickly, and—fortunately for readers of this blog—edit rigorously. But my mom lives in Arizona, which put a bit of a damper on Mother’s Day celebrations. Despite being 1,500 miles away from Continue reading
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Reblog: A Meditation for Holy Saturday
I hope you find time to be still today and to reflect on this space between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Perhaps this little poem can foster such contemplative stillness (visit the link below). Continue reading
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Worship Leader, Play for Your People Tomorrow
As a worship leader, I am more anxious about Easter Sunday than any other service of the Church Year. I suspect I am not alone in this. On Easter, worship leaders and church musicians often feel pressured to perform for once-a-year crowds. Easter services can feel like our one chance to impress visitors in hopes Continue reading
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Questioning Easter
Did my title surprise you? No, I’m not questioning the reality of the resurrection or whether Easter was originally pagan or any of the usual questions that pop up this time of year. Instead, I want to question some things we take for granted on and leading up to Easter that deserve more thoughtful examination. Continue reading
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“O Come, O Come, Behold Emmanuel”: A Sonnet for Good Friday
I was reflecting on the “O Antiphons” today, those ancient prayers that inspired the familiar Advent carol, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” As it is Good Friday, though, I began to wonder how the Messianic titles of the “O Antiphons” might inform a consideration of the cross. As so often happens, this contemplative exercise produced Continue reading
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Reblog: Answering the Hymn “Were You There?”
“Were You There?” is one of my all-time favorite hymns, and I play it every year during Holy Week. A few years ago, though, I was struck to realize that the refrain of “Were you there?” is not a rhetorical question; it actually demands answering… Click the link below to read more… Continue reading
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A Poem for the Day after Palm Sunday
I recently saw the sharp contrast between Palm Sunday and Passion Week described as “liturgical whiplash,” which seems just about right. The day following Palm Sunday always leaves me contemplative, struck anew by the fickleness of the crowd as they turn from cheering to jeering, from “Hosanna!” to “Crucify him!” But because we know how Continue reading
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Reblog: The Real Context of a Popular “Bookish” Quote
It’s National Library Week, which means that bookish quotes are popping up all around the internet. Mostly, this is a good thing. But I admit that when I saw Penguin Classics share a Pride and Prejudice quote without any awareness as to its real context in the novel, I could not sit idly by. I Continue reading
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Ryanne Molinari 