During college, I worked as an orientation leader for two consecutive years. I spent the summers before and after graduation working eighteen-hour days. It was the hardest work I’ve ever done. We lived and worked on campus, and our coworkers were our roommates. It felt like there was no escape. We cried together and because…
Life is full of pain and dissatisfaction, and we live in a society that tells us pain and dissatisfaction are bad. We try to make ourselves feel better with clothes, books, drinks, habits, and addictions. People, companies, and industries are making millions by feeding our sense of dissatisfaction and then selling us the “cure.” At…
Time used to look like a line that started on the left and moved straight to the right. That’s what all the history wall charts and foldout timelines taught me. When I was growing up, I bought into the idea that you could identify a point in the distance and get there from here. I…
I teach five- and six-year-olds, and what a fun stage of childhood they are in. But there is this one thing . . . the wiggles. People, some days I feel like a broken record telling these sweet little angel babies to settle down. “Please be still.” “I need you to sit on your bottom.” “Let’s…
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. (Proverbs 27:1 NKJV) On Sunday evening I sit down with my calendar and make a list of what I have to accomplish during the coming week. Some items are not flexible, like making doctor appointments and attending work meetings….
I have a Death Valley. Do you? You know, that dry place somewhere deep inside, where you see no evidence of growth, no evidence of beauty, and no evidence of life? It’s an area of life you dwell in as infrequently as possible. It’s an area you’ve prayed about, a place that swallows up prayers,…