All my life I’ve run the hamster wheel of achievement and acceptance; a headstrong, type-A control freak, looking for love. As a child I earned love by working hard to fit in. At church I earned love by memorizing verses. At school I earned love by pleasing teachers. Looking back, I see a girl in…
The fire alarm rang like a siren in my apartment complex early Saturday morning, and I seriously considered staying in bed. But what if this was the one time there really was a fire? I knew I’d regret it. Before heading out the door, I looked around my apartment. The sirens droned on and on….
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV) How do we handle the anxiety that grows between our expectations and our reality? My first memory of true anxiety occurred during my…
My husband gently shook my arm, and I opened my sleepy eyes. It took a minute to focus and process what I saw outside the car window. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I was still dreaming. It looked as if we had been transported back in time and across the ocean….
As one of the twelve disciples, Peter had a front-row seat for Jesus’s three-year ministry on earth. Peter witnessed amazing miracles and even participated in some. His growth curve was steep, and in many cases, Peter’s personality was his biggest roadblock to his ability to understand what Jesus was teaching him. Peter seems impulsive at…
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and…