Oil from the Jar Blog Archives

Who’s the Puppy?

Picture a huge outdoor amphitheater like the ones at Disney’s MGM theme park or Universal Studios, and you’ll be able to imagine the scene of an unsettling dream I had. Filled with several thousand spectators, the stadium seating formed an enormous arc around the stage. I sat in a row way up near the back,…

How It Finally Happened

The prospect of hearing God’s voice has always fascinated my husband, Steve. He believed it could happen. But well into our marriage it had not happened to him. At least not in a way he could recognize and understand. For God does speak—now one way, now another—though man may not perceive it. — Job 33:14…

God’s Due Date

My daughter, Sarah, and I frequented the library when she was a little girl. We both loved to read and enjoyed hunting for good books. One day, she borrowed a Nancy Drew mystery and started reading it as soon as we got home. The next day, it vanished. We searched in all the usual places…

Am I Relevant?

rel•e•vant adj 1. having some sensible or logical connection with something else, for example, a matter being discussed or investigated. 2. having some bearing on or importance for real-world issues, present-day events, or the current state of society1 I’m clueless about post-modern culture. I don’t watch TV. I don’t read New York Times Bestsellers. (Wait,…