After a four-month absence, I went back to the gym this morning. I had a significant surgery on my hand in early December, and the recovery was slow, but truthfully? I quit going before the surgery, and I could have gone back weeks ago. I also could have made accommodations for my hand and found…
sanctification
God’s Word is Good For You
I spent most of my twenties not reading the Bible. I was a Christian, I believed in Jesus, and I was even a pastor’s wife for the second half of that decade, but I did not have any regular habits of Bible reading. Like many churched folks, I knew that I should read and study…
Discipline, Delight, and Staying on the Path
My husband and I took our kids on a hike not too long ago, and before we hit the trail, we warned both of our sons to stay on the path at all times. The woods were filled with poison ivy, and one of my sons is quite the explorer. (Actually, he’s a “runner”—you know,…
Impossibly, Gradually, Miraculously Changed
I rolled the shell in my hands. My young son had pulled it from the ocean floor just moments before, and I pushed the goggles out of my eyes to have a closer look. Standing in waist-deep water, the waves gently rocked against me as I traced the golden olive shell with my finger. The…
Hope for the Slowly Sanctified
Do you ever look at your life and think, “This isn’t who I thought I’d be by now?” Maybe you thought you’d be more faithful, more studied, more patient, more self-controlled, wiser, holier, kinder. Maybe you hoped that after all these years some of those things you really hate about your old self had stayed…
The Way You Look
My grandmother used to have this phrase to describe a particular kind of family resemblance. She’d say something like, “He looks out of his eyes the way his dad did when he was a kid” or “The way you look out of your eyes makes me think of your mama.” She didn’t mean that you…
Before Galaxies, Your Sanctification
By now, you’ve probably seen the new Webb space telescope images recently released from NASA. In one snapshot of glimmering, sparkling specks are entire galaxies that have existed since the Lord spoke them into being. The photos are breathtaking and hard to comprehend from where we sit in our homes on this planet in this…
Bootstrapping is Folly
Many years ago, I visited a Sunday school class at a church where the conversation revolved around what the Christian life should look like. The consensus seemed to think that soldiering through life without acknowledging struggles or burdening other people was the right and noble way to follow Jesus. Stoically. Quietly. Solitarily. It was the…
You Can’t Measure the Most Important Things
I bought a watch last year to measure my steps and heartrate. I’m a generally a little resistant to trends and therefore usually late to them, but I felt like measuring my physical exertion would result in more of it, thus I bought a watch. Even so, I refused to spend more than $25 on…
Sharp Tools, Good Hands
I didn’t have to look at the clock to know what it said, but I looked anyway. Two-thirty-six a.m. I know what that part of the night feels like; it’s not a new phenomenon. I’ve had nightly waking pain for the better part of eleven years. I creep out of bed, walk in a stooped…