What is hope? What have you heard about it? What do you think it is? Sometimes it seems hope is offered as a vague antidote to suffering, leading to more questions than answers. “Just have hope!” people say. Is it a magic medicine that cures all ills? Or,...
Humans make terrible mistakes; we can deeply hurt the ones we love and leave scars. We don’t remember why, or the why is not important anymore, but the scars remain. One of the most difficult, hurtful relationships in my life was with my mother. Her unhappiness...
It was May 13, 1999. I hung up the phone with my dad, sobbing in confusion and shock over the news he had just given me. My brother was gone. He had taken his life after a long battle with depression. I couldn’t fully process the reality of his death and I didn’t have...
A new year brings a fresh start and hope for things to be different. Many of us make resolutions. Did you make resolutions? When you make plans for change, there is a real sense of optimism and hope that, this year, some things about your life could be...
Originally published on December 10, 2018, for our anniversary in 2024, we are republishing our first blog. 🎉 I am terrified as I type this. My fingers press letters to make words that tell stories, stories that will expose vulnerability, and I tremble. I have been...
My heart lifted as I plodded through the snow to the Christmas Eve service at the church my father pastored. The warm church was packed with joyful worshippers. We sang Christmas carols, meditated on the story of Christ’s birth, listened to the choir, and then at...
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:16-18 While in my early years of college, I met with my pastor to talk about God’s will for my life. I was seeking wisdom...
"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is...
We’ve all heard of “blind trust,” of stepping forward in faith, believing what lies ahead is better than what we’re leaving behind. Faith is easy to define, but never easy to live out. I think of the Israelites being led out of Egypt and into the desert. Surely...