I’m a literal person. I struggle to enjoy stories with unrealistic, abstract concepts like time travel or multiple dimensions. I suppose I like everything, even my entertainment, to be neat and tidy and linear. (This is probably why I love Disney movies so much.) As soon as I was old enough to understand that God…
If I don’t recognize the number on the screen when my cell phone rings, I don’t answer. (Of course, I may not answer even if I do recognize it because I’m an introvert, and answering the phone is just awful sometimes. But that is beside the point.) Several weeks ago, though, an unknown number appeared…
Sin. It’s ugly. Actually, that’s not completely true. A lot of sin is not ugly. It’s enticing. It’s fun. Sin itself can be downright attractive because the devil is a deceiver. The results of sin, however, are ugly, and this world can be a whole mess of ugly. Why? That’s a question both the faithful…
Faith in Christ is the cornerstone of my existence. My awareness of his deep love for me and the knowledge that I am never alone, never without help, steady me throughout the storms of life. When the constant complications of chronic illness make life seem dark, soul-crushing, and unrelenting, the nearness of God’s presence shifts…
The problem with crying for days is it tires me out—mind, body, and soul. Coherent thought drains away. Gumption to struggle through is gone. Finding my tears can’t change the outcome is a shock, my mind numb to what’s next. The only reality seems to be the ugly pit of feelings I find myself in,…
I’m pretty much the last person you’d think God would call to write about growing a more joyful life. After a year of challenges in 2016, I was downright miserable despite my apparent faith. I’d struggled to accept a new long-term health issue. I’d achieved far less than I hoped at work, always chronically behind…