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 people of God need the Word of God
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…
Rhythms of Remembering
My alarm clock was pretty rude this morning. Five-thirty is pitch dark. The remains of an all-night thunderstorm hung about the air, making my bed the obvious first choice. As my feet hit the floor, as I hunted for my slippers and shrugged on a long cardigan, as I headed to the coffee pot in…
More, Not Less
The heat of summer in our little corner of the world has turned everything stale. The trees are beginning to turn, but I think that’s more from heat than from the coming of fall. My husband and I often take our kids to ride on a local bike path on the edge of town. Several small bridges take the bike trail…
Dinnertime Devotions and Gospel Hope
I made too much chicken. That’s how it started. Too much chicken. As I cooked dinner last night, I thought through my day, mentally adding things to tomorrow’s to-do list, stepping out of the kitchen periodically to address sibling squabbles in the next room. Moving between tasks, I prepared twice as much chicken as our…
God Loves You in Your Longing
The scene is burned into my memory. It’s been fifteen years, but I remember the day I began to doubt God’s love for me. It was a Sunday. It was that window of fellowship after church just before people start heading home for lunch and naps. I stood in a circle of women, listening to…
Legalism or Laziness?
(the following is an adaptation of a talk I gave recently at a women’s retreat) I grew up in the church culture of the southern part of the U.S. in the 80’s and 90’s. I like to joke that I lived in the buckle of the Bible Belt. Though I was raised in a church…
How to Pray for Believers
Nothing has encouraged my relationships with other believers like praying consistently for them. I used to feel embarrassed by my often-offered platitude, “I’ll pray for you,” because I seldom followed through, and I knew it. When I did happen to remember to pray for someone as promised, it usually amounted to an awkward and rushed,…
Perseverance When Life Isn’t Hard
When I was fifteen years old I read a book about faithfulness that impacted me greatly. It was a novel, actually, and the main character had promised God when she was young that she would remain faithful to Him no matter what happened to her in life. Of course, the plot thickened with all these…