“I’m just not sure how to move forward with her,” my friend Sarah said. She had been telling me about recent struggles with a family member. Sarah and her relative were coming to the table with different perspectives, and I honestly didn’t know if they’d ever see eye to eye. Age, family dynamics, and desired…
As the year of our Lord 2020 drew to a close, I kept thinking, This is it; it’s almost over; we’re almost to the finish line. I knew in my head that the clock wouldn’t reset at the stroke of midnight on December 31, and 2021 would magically be a return to “normal,” but in…
“A voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him.’” (Matt.17:5 NLT) Many of us have a tradition of choosing a word for each year that will guide us as we venture into the uncharted territory of another circle around the sun. The word I…
Stepping into this first month of 2021 feels categorically different than other years. It feels different because it is different. Twenty-twenty changed us. The crises we encountered may inspire us to ask, “How does our experience in 2020 affect the posture we take toward 2021?” I chose that word—“posture”—carefully because I mean it literally. Here’s…
I did it again. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t, but there I was, compulsively scrolling through the news feed on my phone. As I read each article, I alternated between anxiety and outrage. This year, we’ve had no shortage of outrageous, anxiety-producing events. A pandemic. Violence. Hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. I haven’t personally…
Do you ever read the Old Testament and get frustrated with the Israelites? Do you read their responses to leaders or prophets or God and think how selfish or whiny they seem? God is constantly showing the Israelites he will protect and provide for them, only to see them turn and worship idols. From the…