Today is my cousin’s birthday. When we were kids, I enjoyed boasting about how I was older than her…by eight days. Year after year I reminded her of this glorious truth. Until one day, her mother reminded both of us my joy would be short-lived. There would come a...
Each year on April 13, I stop to ask the same question. I look back on the past twelve months, look forward to the coming year, and ask myself: “Does my life reflect what I claim to be living for?” It’s a question I do not answer casually. Our time on earth is...
I recently attended a Celebration of Life service for a friend’s adult daughter. It was a beautiful service, with a touching time of fellowship afterward. Even as we celebrated her life, the pain was palpable—agony beyond the pain of the loss of a child, as great as...
2015 was the first year I chose to adopt One Word for the year. I wrote about selecting my word—release—in a blog post last January with an update in August. Release was not a word I chose eagerly. As a Type A personality, releasing anything does not come naturally....
Have you ever been thankful for nothing? For what you don’t have? For the times God said no to your request? Lately, I’ve been thinking about how thankful I am for…nothing. Yes, you read that correctly. For what I don’t have. It’s a feeling that’s been building for...
Now that the new school year has begun, my thoughts have turned to arithmetic. Quick! Answer the following: 7 x 8 = 144 divided by 12 = 9,000,000 – 7,999,997 = Did you need a calculator? I was recently in a small grocery store trying to pay cash for a purchase. I...
Come out and be separate. No. Go out and be salty. Connect or disconnect? Which is it? As our culture distances itself from its Judeo-Christian roots, Christians are finding themselves more and more isolated by their values from the mainstream. Christian holidays are...
A few years ago, a popular television program called Monk featured a lead character consumed with perfectionism. He couldn’t prevent the murder of his wife, so he spent the rest of his life trying to control everything else. For a while, my nickname became “Mrs....
Have you noticed how some things are becoming smaller and lighter these days? The first computer took up an entire building. Now you can hold a mini iPad in the palm of your hand. The first mobile phone looked and felt like a brick with an antenna. Now cell phones can...
It’s a letter we’d all like to receive. The envelope bears the return address of an unfamiliar law firm. With shaky hands, we tear open the envelope. Is it a lawsuit? A collection notice? No. It’s notification of a bequest from the estate of a long-lost relative. You...
Called, Loved, and Kept There’s a lot of talk in Christian circles about being “called,” and rightly so. The...
Life-Changing Advice I’ll never forget Betty. Betty was an older woman I knew from church when I was a young...
A Different Kind of Exercise I’m naturally drawn to exercise. Stretches and jumps. Weightlifting, squats, and...