For many of us, this has been a difficult year. As I sat down to write out my Thanksgiving reflections from each month of this last year, my first one listed the hard, heart-rending things. With nearly monthly regularity, there was another difficult struggle to record. I will spare you the details because there is …
Beautiful Women of Faith: Faltering, yet Finding Him Faithful
On the morning of my youngest child's eighteenth birthday, nostalgia and hope fight for priority. Nostalgia looks at the regrets and joyful memories of the past; hope sees how God will work it all together to shape this young woman's own journey of faith. No mother can automatically pass on her faith. She can only …
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Beautiful Women of Faith: A Woman Unnamed
She stayed when everyone else walked away. She supported her husband when he came in exhausted after preaching to people who wouldn't listen. She protected her three small boys from the violent, lewd, evil world outside of their home. She provided a good example to her daughters-in-law when they, too, chose to follow their husbands …
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Beautiful Women of Faith: The Misunderstood Mary
For the centuries since Jesus’ resurrection, Mary of Magdala has had her name dragged through every conceivable mud puddle available. Cults, gnostic gospels, and even early religious leaders have accused her of everything from arguing with the apostle Peter to being a prostitute to having a secret family with Jesus. Sadly, many early church …
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Contending with Compassion
A “Hate has no home here” sign sits next to a sign that declares, “No Kings, no Fascists, no tyrants, no Nazis.” Another recent online post crows, “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” Hate clearly does have a home if that home declares you …
Willingly Ignorant
Climate change is coming. Examine all the models, and you will find that humans are contributing to the rapid approach of the end. Unfortunately, there is no way to stop the Earth from melting from the intense heat. God said it will happen because of His judgment, not because we have too many cows …
Acceptable and Reasonable Sacrifice
“It is not supposed to be this way” is a common refrain in this generation. I do not ever remember my grandmother complaining about the trauma she endured throughout the dust bowl and Great Depression, though I do know she was shaped by those experiences. Neither of my grandfathers served in World War II …
Back to School: A Study of 1 Peter
School supply lists and new teacher meetings announce the return of the orderly routines of another school year. The children groan and the parents cheer this day every year, unless the parents homeschool, which is a post for another day! 😊 With the new school year comes the teaching and the testing meant to …
Teachers of Good Things
Full confession: my youngest child is entering her senior year of high school this year, and I don’t feel old enough to be entering the empty nest season. Because she is the youngest, however, I have learned some things with my older children that have helped me prepare for the transition. Some of the …
What Have You Learned on Your Spiritual Journey Thus Far?
A Titus 2 Command, Part 2. ETA: I need to be up front and honest about this—I got this mentorship program all wrong. It is such a blessing when the Lord meets you in your mistakes and literally redirects you to a better way. Because I am a product of the previous generation, this …
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His Song in the Night 