We all view life through a filter developed over time and shaped by our life experiences, convictions, and beliefs. I spent a lot of last year trying to clean the smudges off my filter. The process hasn’t been easy, and I’m learning to accept that it’s an ongoing discipline. For instance, my past experiences with…
My family left the hustle and bustle of American civilization in 2010. We didn’t move back to the States until 2014. When we left for the Middle East, I owned a Razr flip phone. (Smartphones weren’t yet a required appendage.) It was incredibly eerie when we stepped back on American soil in 2014. Everyone had…
The month of December can be very busy. There’s so much to be done before Christmas Day arrives in many Christian households, that a frenetic tone takes the place of Mary’s long-ago anticipation of her first child’s birth. We can read articles about taking the stress out of Christmas and try. We can set up…
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:8–9 ESV) Every time I hear the phrase “welcome at the table,” I immediately picture my cafeteria lunch tables in high school. I was welcome at three different tables—the band nerds’ table,…
The memory is still so vivid. Fresh out of the house after a week of the flu, with two toddlers straggling along, I made my way through a parking lot toward a playgroup on our new army post. I hadn’t met anyone, my husband was training, and I was a complete disaster. A complete disaster…
Recently I had a heart-check moment that continues to nag me. Over the past year, I’ve grown to respect a kind woman who attends the same church our family attends. The other day she shared an article on her Facebook newsfeed from a website that writes stories from a specific angle in the hopes of…