Christmas is the holiday for which we all know we should celebrate the “real meaning,” but many of us struggle to know how. The culture does a fabulous job of giving us ideas on how to make it more magical and fun. The culture also gives us full instructions on how we can spend more…
The first time I held my babies, their innocence overwhelmed me. They were helpless and perfect, not even a hint of malice in their searching eyes. But after thirteen years of parenting, I am under no illusion that my children are perfect. As a matter of fact, their flaws often mirror my own. We lose…
“In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” ~Job 12:10 ESV The sand in the cake incident is what finally broke me. During my in-laws’ open house, our daughter inexplicably tossed a handful of sand on her grandma’s beautiful, homemade celebration cake. It was rendered inedible, of…
After writing my book, People Are Good: 100 True Stories to Restore Your Faith in Humanity, I learned a powerful lesson from many of my readers—you never know how your small acts of kindness can ripple into something far greater than you ever intended. Time and again, I heard the words, “The person who did…
“There’s got to be a way to do this well.” This is my mantra these days. In the hustle of life, job, marriage, kids, relationships, community and church, God’s call, and all the other stuff, how do we figure out a balancing act between areas of impact and necessity? During this holiday season, a woman…
I was wrapped snugly in my winter coat and PJs, hot chocolate steaming in my mug. My three brothers and I were stuffed into my mom’s light-blue station wagon like sardines in a can. Two of us facing forward while the other two in the “way back” faced each other, we pulled out of our…