“You could be faithful with your frailty.” I was walking the track at the gym like I do every morning before my workout, and the lyrics from the Christian hip-hop artist were so quick I almost missed them. You could be faithful with your frailty.[1] He’s speaking, I think, to our inability to make our…
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How I’m Reading the Bible in 2024
A quick scroll on any social media platform shows me one thing about the people I follow: everyone is mapping out their goals for 2024. Some are planning diets; others are beginning new exercise regimens. (Most are doing both.) Some are making financial goals or career plans. I’ve been encouraged to see many people making…
This is a Gift You Can Give
Last Sunday, my family and I went to a local nursing home with a group of fellow church members to sing Christmas carols for the residents. I had prepared my kids for the nursing home as I have in the past, reminding them to be kind, to ignore the smells, and to notice how happy…
I Need Sundays
“Why do you cry every single Sunday, Mom?” I was rooting around under my seat for the wad of tissues I’d stuffed in my purse before heading to church that morning. I laughed at my young son’s whispered question because it’s true. I do cry every Sunday. My pastor-husband had just finished his sermon on…
Good Either Way
My grandmother used to interrupt our stories to correct our theology. We often praise the Lord when He protects us from something or when we barely scraped by in a tough situation. We say things like, “I almost had a car accident today, but the Lord protected me! Isn’t God good?!” or “I was afraid…
Because This is All I Have
The clouds were pink. And gold. And kind of orange. We’d left an overcast Nashville and slipped in between the gray and blue to a kind of cotton candy purgatory in the sky. I usually opt for an aisle seat, but this was a commuter plane, so if you were in seat A, you got…
Daylight Saving and Spiritual Disciplines
I’ve long used January 1st as the day I’m going to get my life together. New diet? Clean slate starts January 1st. Exercise plan? I’ll begin on the first of the year. Keep the Tupperware cabinet from throwing plastic containers at me every time I open it? Organization will commence on the first day of the…
Encircled, Enclosed, Squeezed In
The longest my husband and I have ever been apart is eleven days. He went on a mission trip to Malaysia many years ago, and my young son and I spent most of our time counting down the days until we were all together again. I struggled to sleep at night while William was on…
We Need Every Word
I talk to myself in the grocery store. It’s not a conscious habit, but it dawns on me occasionally that I’m mumbling when other shoppers give me strange looks or smirk a little as I pass by. But I can’t help it. When I’m shopping for groceries, my mind is focused on my list, my…
Rest is Obedience
I sat on a dock on the coast of Southern Maine alone with my thoughts. I held an ice cream cone in one hand and struggled to eat it before it melted down my wrist. The wind coming off the sea pulled at the baseball hat hiding my ratty hair. It was quiet save for…