Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Phil. 2:13-14 NIV) We all probably…
The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.” —Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees One of the winter activities our family enjoyed pre-COVID was what we called Soup Saturdays. We’d put out…
What is an attractive life? Let me explain. I don’t mean attractive as in physical appearance. I’m not talking about a life that looks like an air-brushed magazine cover. When I searched ‘definition of attractive’ on Google, I came up with these definitions: Appealing or pleasing to the senses Having beneficial qualities or features that…
When we think of Advent—the season of waiting for Jesus—we often think of celebration, a growing excitement as we get closer to Christmas Day. We fill our evenings with twinkling lights, warm drinks, and holiday movies. We spend time with those we love and think of ways we can give to others. I love all…
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…
A few weeks ago, I watched an Apple documentary called The Elephant Queen, about an elephant tribe’s journey from the wilderness of the desert land to the “king land.” This tribe had a matriarch or queen leading them on their journey to find land with plentiful food and clean water. Traveling to this promised land,…