I am a people pleaser. It pains me to say this, but it’s the truth. I love to be a hostess. I plan birthday celebrations for my children on my day off. I commit to welcoming family and friends in our home for Easter—fifty or more people. I accommodate others around my work schedule, especially…
I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24 NLT) In this month of resurrection celebration, I often return to the beautiful story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and Jesus’ love for them, especially in the sisters’ time of devastating loss. Jesus hears that his dear friend Lazarus is sick, and the man’s sisters…
Besides the family always gathering at our house, there is one thing I remember specifically about Christmas Eve when I was a small child. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins came to our house while we waited for Santa. We did have a convenient chimney for him to come down (grown-ups assured us the fire wouldn’t…
“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” These are the words said as ashes are either sprinkled on your head or smeared on your forehead in the shape of a cross. The ritual is strange. It’s uncomfortable. It’s blunt. And it’s supposed to be all these things. Ash Wednesday is the first…
I grew up in a Pentecostal church. We celebrated Easter, but there wasn’t a significant emphasis on the season of Lent. I have learned more about Lent as my faith has broadened and matured, however, I do remember a most embarrassing moment when I told a Catholic work friend that she had a little something…
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19 NIV) In Ephesians, Paul writes, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins. . . But because…