There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV) We all experience seasons in our lives, seasons of joy and resurrection but also of struggle and death. Those latter “winter” seasons are challenging. We draw ourselves inward for protection and warmth. We believe that we possess…
My parents share dinner at a restaurant on the water in Florida, where, on a whim, they decide to purchase a small sailboat. They don’t have any idea how to operate it, but that doesn’t stop them from setting sail toward the Caribbean. Soon, our tiny family embarks on a maritime adventure, complete with breathtaking…
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV) At the start of every year, we often spend time assessing the previous one. We make lists of everything we want to…
I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. (Malachi 3:6 NIV) Around this time every year, I begin to see New Year memes popping up in my social media feeds. You know the ones. They typically say something like “New Year, New Me.” They talk about cutting weight or cutting crummy…
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23–24 NLT) My goal for the winter is to clean out the basement. In this house, our mutual pack-rat-ish tendencies have produced a lower…
My family left the hustle and bustle of American civilization in 2010. We didn’t move back to the States until 2014. When we left for the Middle East, I owned a Razr flip phone. (Smartphones weren’t yet a required appendage.) It was incredibly eerie when we stepped back on American soil in 2014. Everyone had…