the profile of a Black woman's face looking at the sky
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What to Do When a Door Closes

You know when something feels like a chore instead of a joy? Something is off. Either you’re burned out or you’re not in your sweet spot. Maybe both. Vocations and relationships can both oscillate between exuberance and burnout, all in one tidy little pendulum. That vague feeling that something is blasé is a mild version…

a potter working on a clay pot
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Shaped by the Potter

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my son hold the side of the clay bowl between his fingers and lightly pinch it. He rubbed with his thumb while pushing gently from the other side to ensure it didn’t crack too much. When tiny cracks inevitably formed along the top edge of the…

Who Will Write Your Story?
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Who’s Writing Our Stories?

For years, I clung to the notion that bad decisions led to bad stories and good decisions led to good stories. I desperately and naïvely wanted to believe this was true—that we had some control over our stories. But we know it isn’t true, don’t we? We live in a broken world, and our stories…

A Do-Over Can Bring Repentance
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When God Gives You a Do-Over

How can we be here again? That was my thought when, for the third time in five years, the head coach my husband worked for was fired. For those unfamiliar with the world of big-time football, when the head coach is fired, it seldom bodes well for the rest of the staff. The incoming head…