I’m happily married with three awesome kids, living in a home my husband renovated, with three dogs, four chickens, and a garden to boot. My husband is a discipleship pastor, and I am an English professor. Sounds like a good life, doesn’t it? You would probably think I ooze gratitude. The embarrassing truth is, I…
It’s one thing to tune your own heart toward gratefulness–I have good and bad days in this regard, and it’s a continuous area of focus for me. It is a whole other thing to spur others on to gratefulness in our day-to-day lives. I have been struck lately by how much negativity there is both…
The story of the Exodus has become my favorite Old Testament narrative. Not only did God rescue the Israelites out of Egypt, but he actively led and fed them through their wilderness journey: “And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea and performed signs and…
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ~John F. Kennedy Ribbon Jell-O. Thanksgiving is fast-approaching, and due to the very nature of the holiday, thoughts of all the blessings in our lives likely come flooding to our minds. Our…
Just typing the title of this post feels overwhelming. To be honest, the days when I feel grateful for my singleness don’t come often. Because of that, I wonder if I’m even qualified to write about this topic. I write from somewhere along the journey rather than at a destination. Maybe that’s the point, though….
“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . . And be thankful” (Col. 3:15 ESV). Let’s just begin here by being honest: it’s not always easy to carry the peace of Christ in our hearts. How can we possibly harbor peace–the divine, eternal variety–in our hearts, when we’re living in a world that…