markmanry

[bl]W[/bl]e teach the young to speak words of kindness. The please and the thank you’s, the Mr. and Mrs. We correct their speech, help them choose appropriate words, and encourage politeness. What we’re doing is teaching them to talk and request kindly. But are we teaching them to really communicate? Better yet, do we know how to really communicate? Faithful communication and conversation is offering words of truth and receiving the words of another. Offering and receiving, the root of all hospitality. Even the tongue. What is it that we offer with our tongue? For Moses, it was a message […]

[bl]O[/bl]ur present struggles and tragedies quickly become our history. Events that shape us deeply, redefine us as individuals and community. Whether it’s bondage to a pharaoh or watching a sea part for your escape. Or entering battles unprepared and outnumbered. Or being persecuted because of who you believe in. Or enslaved because of the color of your skin. It’s the wars fought for land and rights. The sickness that swept through and brought death. The laws that kept us separate. The airplanes that crumbled buildings and stole life. These events will never go away. They are apart of our story […]

[bl]E[/bl]verything in me was building. It had been so for a few days now. It’s an emotional experience that seems out of my control. Like a monster is growing inside of me, feeding off my frustrations and irritations until it’s strong enough to take me over and use my body for its evil purposes. I’m not sure the children were exceptionally loud or argumentative. I just think I was exceptionally less patient and gracious. When Mark arrived home, I ran. Literally. I threw my running shoes on and headed down my driveway. Two darling toddlers attempted to follow me but […]

[bl]W[/bl]e all have them in our life. The people and commitments that keep us living on the fine line between gracious and graceless. They’re the things we feel called to. The people we are responsible for. The mission placed before us. The job we go to daily. We’re thankful for what’s been given to us. That God would entrust us with the responsibility. That he would call us to participate. And in our gratitude, our lips speak words of grace and our hands lift to praise. But these are also the things that empty us. Consume us. Leave us thirsty […]

[bl]T[/bl]wo years ago today at a local café in Jinja, Uganda Mark and I considered the things we never would have done had we not married each other. We hardly recognize ourselves as the Mark Manry and Lori Gresham that fell in love. God has written for us a story that has journeyed us through struggle, vulnerability, sacrifice and joy. Now after 13 years of marriage, we are so proud of one another and how we’ve surrendered ourselves to God’s mutual shaping process that must occur if a marriage is to mature and grow and thrive. Mutual shaping, it’s the […]

[bl]O[/bl]ur culture tends to group people. The church does too. We place everybody in these social categories. It’s our way of helping understand each other, even take care of each other. But I think sometimes this categorizing hinders true and authentic community. The kind where diversity makes us whole and more complete, rather than separate and different. The single life is one such category. We have this life track our culture places us on from a young age, and when people end up taking different paths either by choice or circumstances they can’t control, sometimes we’re not quite sure how […]

[bl]I[/bl] sit in front of the big screen and watch a story that is fiction, but truth pierces the conversations, behaviors and relationships. It could be real. About the time the white hands serve fried chicken to the one who should have been cooking and serving, I realize I am taking fewer breaths than normal. This holding in of emotion that is welling up inside of me. Emotion that has been caught, lying dormant in my chest for some time now. The women in character – the way they laugh and interact, struggle and survive – it reminds me of the […]

[bl]W[/bl]e call hospitality a gift. Some have it others don’t. A way of offering that some people are called to and others are not. Like teaching or preaching or healing. Here’s the problem: We’ve equated hospitality with hosting. The ability to have people in your home and serve them well is a gift. Some do this with ease, some do it because they have to, some because they feel called to. It’s an instinct for some, and for others it’s a learned way of living. And yet for others it’s awkward or exhausting or intrusive. This is what I want […]

[bl]T[/bl]oday I rise with a thankful heart. To be in the place God has me. To be with the people I love to be with. To worship with like-minded souls. To Clean a house that holds me so well. To parent children I adore. It’s one of those days where I want my eyes to capture it all. To see Him in all things. I want my mind to be clear of clutter. To think on all that he has gifted. And I want my heart to recognize this place of goodness. Because I know I won’t always be here. […]

[bl]W[/bl]e pull at the door, assuming it will open. But it doesn’t. A woman inside unlocks the glass door and opens it. We close at 6, she informs us. We had missed it by a moment or two. We accept her apology and turn around to leave. Not wanting to give up, my friend says, Shouldn’t we just tell her we know what we want and we can give her the exact cash for it? Why not, I agree. It’s worth a try. We return and this time we knock. The woman unlocks the door a second time and hears […]