Comparison is a lethal trap for women. Sizing up another woman leads either to pride that I’m better in some way or to self-loathing that I’m inferior in one or many ways. Neither is good for our souls. The words “my lot” in this my favorite of all hymns presuppose the kind, benevolent rule of […]
Read MoreBy Janel Breitenstein My son—my oldest—turns twelve this week. Helping him with his piano a few days ago, I played a few notes of the “New World Symphony” for him. He didn’t remember a bit of it—though we played it night after night after night for him as an infant, willing that cranky boy to […]
Read MoreBy Janel Breitenstein It was my freshman year of college. I stood nestled in our college choir with the second-altos, clad in a uniform dress that somehow carried the ability to transform my appearance into that of a black olive. The first few notes of the piano introduction were lilting over the auditorium, in our […]
Read MoreBy Janel Breitenstein Freedom is a riveting idea no matter what continent you live on, whether you’re living beneath a baseball cap or a burqa. Freedom is a universal value. Still, definitions of “liberty,” I’m finding, can be as varied as Sno-Cone flavors at a summer stand. Most of us would agree freedom only works when […]
Read MoreBy Janel Breitenstein I think you could call me a grace junkie. I am finally willing to admit that I am addicted to grace. When I first came to Christ, I thought that I would grow out of grace a bit. I knew I needed a flood of it to get in the door, and I’d […]
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