Gwendolyn Harmon's Blog: Learning Ladyhood

A large waterfall is a magnificent thing—the roar of all that water plummeting into the pool, the spray sent up into the air to chill tourists and refresh hikers, the lush greenery clinging to little crevices in the rocky outcroppings surrounding the cascade.

Growing up, we visited the falls in the Columbia River Gorge many times, and I still enjoy going there, but I have found myself paying little attention to the falls themselves, having seen them so many times over the years.

I was at Multnom...

James 1:17 is a commonly-quoted verse, and one that often comes to my mind, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

But as wonderful a truth as this is, it wasn’t intended to stand alone. The Sunday School class I attend at my church has been doing a study on temptation and how to fight it, and we have looked at quite a few verses in James...

Joseph is probably one of the most upright characters recorded in the pages of Scripture. Through one adversity after another, we see him faithful and diligent, steady and strong. Neither betrayal, slavery, slander, or his eventual success could destroy his integrity. And yet, there is much we aren’t shown in Joseph’s narrative.

We aren’t shown the emotions he experienced as his brothers sold him as a slave. We aren’t told how he responded to the difficulties of learning a new language and cultu...

Early on in my summer break this year, something glitched in my laptop, and I lost the wallpaper that had been on my screen for years. It was something I had put together myself, with a backdrop of a breathtaking night sky and my favorite quote from Charles Spurgeon. When I went to put the picture back on my computer, it was nowhere to be found.

I was disappointed, and after spending more time on it than I probably should have, I finally stopped and prayed about it. With no solution in sight, I ...

The other day, I was reading in the book of Psalms when this verse stood out to me:

“Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.”(80:1)

The context for this verse is a plea for God to turn His people’s hearts back to Him, that their (justly deserved) judgment come to an end. But what strikes me about this specific verse is the juxtaposition of these two very different aspects of who God is, Shepherd of Israel, yet d...

It’s the time of year when it’s still dark when I leave my house for the day. On one particular morning this week, I put on my jacket and gathered my things with more reluctance than usual. I was tired, trying to ignore a headache that was becoming more and more insistent, and I felt very much like curling up and going back to sleep.

But as I stepped out into the crisp, quiet morning, I couldn’t help but think that breathing in this early freshness might just be worth the struggle to get out the...

It was early morning on a Sunday, and I could hear rain falling on the roof, gurgling in the gutters, and tapping against the windows. As I read in my Bible, this verse stood out to me:

“Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby Thou didst confirm Thine inheritance, when it was weary.” Psalm 68:9

In the context, the verse refers to a specific historical event, but that morning, I felt all the personal blessing of a plentiful rain. It had been a busy week, and the rain meant a few extra mi...

As a writer, I meet a lot of people who also are or would like to be writers. Similarly, as a musician, it seems like everyone I meet either played an instrument as a child, or wished they had. I think this might be because everyone is designed to reflect the creativity of our Creator.

People often talk about creative ability as a “gift.” One might have a “gift” for music, or a “gift” for flower arranging, and so on. –And our creativity is a gift. But all too often, we forget that gifts have a G...

Have you ever found yourself asking God the wrong question? Maybe it’s the irritated “Why?” when you’re running late and a school bus turns out in front of you. Or maybe you’ve wondered “Why can’t I…” in response to some blessing or ability bestowed on someone else. The truth is, when our hearts are burdened or saddened or irritated, we tend to ask God the wrong questions.  The “Why”s of life are rarely answered, and instead of bringing us closer to God, who has all the answers, a heart of “why?...

When I was young, any verse I came across that was already familiar from a hymn we sang was instantly special to me, simply for its familiarity. I think that is how 2 Timothy 1:12 initially gained significance for me. But as I grew, so did my understanding of the verse, and I came to appreciate it, not just for its familiarity, but because of what it means.

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is ...