My mom lost her mom when she was a teenager. On her birthday.

I once made a joke to Dr. Smith that I’m pretty good at sinning. He then said “Naty, I never joke about sin.”

I read that verse multiple times still having no clue what it was about. The flashing ads of my online bible were stealing my focus, sliding my eyes to the left. Silly ad, it had grabbed my attention.

A lot of us take pride in our busyness, yet Jesus capped us all with his overflowing schedule. We tire out sitting at a desk for hours, loading and unloading laundry, sorting out problems, fixing what’s broken, or getting interrupted from our tasks. At the end of the day we’re in need of a vacation.

Matthew records the day Jesus took a bunch of demons out of two men and allowed them to enter a herd of pigs.

The phone rang. It read Aurelia. I was glad she beat me to it this time. I was intending to call her and let her know on Tuesday I’m stopping by.

“… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8b

“Wake up sweetheart! Mina’s blood sugar reads four hundred. ” My husband startles my dreams at 3:00 AM last night. I spring out of the bed. Soon, my hands are groping in the dim kitchen lights for the insulin pen. I prick my daughter’s tummy with gentle clumsiness… it’s three in the morning. Then I retrieved to my snuggly blanket knowing that her daddy was watching over her, babysitting that off-the-charts blood sugar.

An ordinary rooster made history on the last Passover announcing more than the break of dawn, announcing a breakdown. Peter’s breakdown.

Another popular baby name among the New Testament generation is Judas, meaning ‘praise’: Judas son of James (a disciple of Jesus, also called Thaddaeus); Judas, brother of Jesus and James (also called Jude); Judas Barsabbas (one of the nominee along with Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot); Judas the Galilean (a revolt leader).