“If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.” I have loved this lyric from John Mark McMillan’s song “How He Loves” since the moment I first heard it. Perhaps it’s because of my love of the ocean, which so easily brings the word picture to life. Or maybe it’s because the word picture meets my…
We protect what costs us the most. Consider a great piece of art like the Italian painter Caravaggio’s Conversion of Saint Paul. In this oil painting, light bursts through chaotic darkness and rests on a blinded Saul. It’s valued as high as $100 million and kept safely in a private collection. Jackson Pollock’s Number 5,…
My friend Libby and I were playing in my backyard sandbox. We were five years old, and I was drooling over the change of clothes she’d brought for her doll. I wanted that stunning, store-bought outfit for my own doll more than anything. Libby was no fool, however; she required a trade, and the only…
I know at 36 I’m probably too old to shop there anymore, but I still love Forever 21. I can buy so much for so little. When I check out, my full yellow bags with John 3:16 imprinted on the bottom make me feel as though I won the jackpot. But there’s one downfall to…
Have you ever been listening to a sermon when a phrase suddenly overtook your mind? It’s as though it holds your thoughts hostage momentarily and says, “Remember me always.” Then your body pulls back a bit from the sudden focus, until the phrase grabs you again and says, “No, really. I need you to remember…
Strength, courage, faith, tenacity–all these words come to mind when I think of people who are long-suffering. Others may see depression, sickness, and pain, but I see something different because I see my mom. My mom has suffered from multiple sclerosis (MS) since I was eleven years old–for over twenty-five years. Twenty-five years of doctor…