Someone asked me recently, “How do we remain faithful to the Lord when the world is just so distracting?” Without saying it, I knew this conversation was about input. Between my phone, computer, podcast app, and television, I can get to the end of a day and wonder what in my life fed my faithfulness…
Everyday Faithfulness
The Real Reason We Don’t Practice Spiritual Disciplines
If coming up with excuses not to do things was a marketable skill, I’d have the best-looking resumé around. Take laundry, for instance. I never have more dishes to wash, books to read, shows to watch, or emails to return than when a mountain of clean laundry is piled on my bed waiting for assimilation…
Please, Take a Bite
It looks like one of my kids is going to follow in my footsteps as a foodie. A couple of months ago, I walked my twelve-year-old through the process of making a simple pasta dish. He is terrified of cutting his finger with a knife or burning his hand on the stove—things he’s seen me…
The Danger of Drifting in a Pandemic
Last summer, my family spent a week at the beach on Tybee Island in Georgia. Like most vacation beach spots, the Tybee shore is dotted with brightly colored condominium rentals anchored in the sand. While swimming in the ocean with my eleven-year-old son, I pointed out a bright yellow set of condos and told him…
Pruning
I had to watch a YouTube video first. I had never dead-headed a rosebush before, but the razor-sharp secateurs in my hand promised to make it an easy job. I watched the man on the video three times to be sure I had the process right. Grab the dead-head, go down to the first five-leaf…
Think Like a Farmer
I paused by my favorite field on my bike ride this morning. It’s hot for early June, and unless I was riding into the wind, the heat and humidity were relentless. I stopped by the field, though, to take a swig of water and snap a picture. Sweat covered every inch of my skin, but…
The Gift of Tangled Roots
On a trip to the California coast with my sister, I had the opportunity to explore Muir Woods National Monument, a redwood forest. As we walked through the woods, my sister and I noted how the massive redwood trees grew in groves. The national park signs throughout Muir Woods didn’t call them groves or circles…
The Measure of a Year
As of this month, I will have spent an entire year in the book of Matthew with my Tuesday Bible study group. I have loved digging deep and going slowly through Matthew’s gospel. A whole year drinking down the life and ministry of the Savior while He walked the earth. The more I look at…
4 Questions for Your Bible Reading in 2020
Every year, in the days following Christmas, I make promises to myself. Weary of traveling for most of the holidays, sleeping little, and eating one Christmas dinner after another, I spend the last days of December mapping out a healthier life plan for the new year that includes more vegetables, earlier bed times, and less screen…
Hiding God’s Word in Our Hearts: The Ins and Outs of Scripture Memory
Author’s note: Since penning this article six years ago, I’ve put everything I know about Scripture memorization into my book, Memorizing Scripture: The Basics, Blessings, and Benefits of Meditating on God’s Word, which was published by Moody Publishers in 2023. This book gives you all the most helpful tips and tricks I’ve found to train…