Tagged: Audrey Frank

Last year around this time, a tragic fire changed our lives. It seems only right to me that now, a year later, I process this with you. In one sense with the invasion of a global pandemic, humanity has been plucked from her life and put right down in another universe. It follows that just perhaps, the light of thanksgiving will help you walk forward too, like it did my family, even when the way seems shrouded in uncertainty. Welcome to my heart, my family, my thanksgiving journey. This is not a sermon or an indirect guilt trip on how to be more thankful. It is merely our story, and it has been a hard one. You have a story too, and I pray ours… Read More

You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. Psalm 89:9 Again and again and again Lord You bring this word to me lately… And now it is Anne’s opening word tonight at prayer, which I barely made it to because of the enemy. My heart cry is, not just more of You, Jesus. All of You. -from my journal around 6:30 pm on November 6, 2019. From my journal entry to friends and family on the Caring Bridge, the next evening, November 7: "You rule over the surging sea, and when its waves mount up, you still them." -Psalm 89:9 They told us the first 24 hours would be critical. So we reached out to you, and you stormed… Read More

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not understood it (John 1:1-5). My first language is English. I do not remember when I began learning it, and I cannot remember never knowing it. English is the language of my heart and my dinner table, conversations whispered excitedly with best friends, comforting words murmured into the silky hair of my sweet babies, love notes from the love of my life. Over the… Read More

for my fellow desperate Docents… you know who you are. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to… Read More

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Psalm 91:1-4 The traveling salesman opened a battered imitation leather briefcase, displaying his wares. Pages filigreed with Quranic verses in flowing Arabic script, others with Bible verses in English. Bits of bone and leather, the striking red and black seeds of the mitipitipi plant, small shells, and… Read More

Everyone was settling down for sleep, but the old woman had to talk to the teacher. What she’d heard tonight was earth-shattering. Mind-blowing. Life-changing. Filth removed, disgrace transformed to honor, rejected now accepted? The story of the sick woman and Jesus was unlike any of the stories told in her tribe. The flickering firelight deepened the rich, warm espresso of her wizened face as she leaned close to the storyteller. “Thank you.” Like the woman reaching her hand out to touch Jesus, she paused to gather her courage for the next words. “I always knew I could be forgiven. But I never knew I could be clean.” To learn more about this woman’s story and how you can be made clean, get your copy of… Read More

 Is being unknown such a bad thing? The thought of being known can be terrifying if we don't like what we know about ourselves. The possibility of rejection looms large and threatening, and sometimes, like during a global pandemic when we are forced to distance ourselves anyway, we wonder if being unknown might be a good thing. It's nice not wearing makeup, working from home in pajamas, just coming as we are to life, nobody watching and judging what they perceive to know about us. But it's not actually being truly known that poses the problem. It's the pain of rejection that may follow being known. So we work hard to protect and groom what is known about us. My Muslim friends are very good at this. So… Read More

Somehow just doesn't sit right with me. Today we find ourselves on the tippy-top of the mountain, hump-day, round-the-corner day, Wednesday. (By the time you read this, we will likely be heading down the hill to Thursday.) I do not usually post on Wednesdays, but in times like these, I think we could all do with a little mid-week encouragement. I have been stuck on an old phrase lately, and you might get stuck on it too. We will make it through this season, not somehow, but triumphantly. It is said that the wonderful expression "not somehow, but triumphantly" gained popularity among Christian missionaries in the prisoner-of-war camps of Japan during World War II. Day after day, they rose, fixed their eyes on Jesus, and gathered… Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank The sun had set and it was time for salat-al-maghrib. The prayer rugs had been carefully laid out to face Mecca, the Islamic city which is revered and honored as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and the central place of prayer for Muslims. Seven-year-old Areefa stood quietly beside her mother, listening for instruction. Today she would officially begin praying salat. She had dressed carefully, making sure only her face, hands, and feet were visible.  “Stand up straight and make sure your feet are close together, pointed toward the qiblah my daughter,” her mother reminded, demonstrating on her own mat. “Now, let’s make our intention.”… Read More

It is a truth universally acknowledged that humanity often finds lies easier to believe than truth. -Audrey Frank Arresting in their beauty, her brown eyes were gracefully framed by long eyelashes and a carefully drawn line of kohl along the upper lids. I momentarily forgot I was at a surgical clinic, my team’s purpose to repair facial deformities. I saw no deformity in this beautiful young woman. But she had not yet removed the cobalt blue scarf that draped over her hair and face, hiding her complete visage from view. “Peace be upon you and may God give long life to your parents,” she said in greeting. “Could you have mercy on me and see me alone?” I sensed the shame and urgency in her… Read More