“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31 NIV) The weight of the backpack surprised me, tipping the scales at nearly thirty pounds. I wondered, How can a second-grade student carry this much weight? My shoulders ached in sympathy as I imagined the weight on…
“All healing is first a healing of the heart.” ~Carl Townsend Like a lot of lucky little girls, I learned to dance by standing on my father’s feet while he waltzed me around the room. My dad was no slouch as a dancer, either. He was a musician at heart—rhythm made his feet tap and…
One of my close friends from church has been struggling with infertility. Knowing that I, too am walking this road, she often comes to me with her thoughts and doubts. She made the comment recently that she is jealous of me because I am at peace with is and she is not. This particular part…
I used to think that when people said, “I heard God say,” he literally came right out and told them what he wanted them to know or do. A booming voice from the sky showed them the way. But I’ve realized (mostly the hard way) that’s not at all how it works. In my experience,…
My son has been hospitalized at least a dozen times. He’s had three surgeries. He sees five therapists every week. Most things are not easy for him. I won’t lie: there’s a lot of hard in there that none of us asked for. I wish genetic anomalies hadn’t busted up my dreams. Have we not…
Before I got married, I had specific expectations of what my marriage would and would not be. We would love each other sacrificially. We would not fight. We would work through conflict, not hold grudges. All of that lasted exactly three days after we said “I do.” We didn’t do any of it. We got…