“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1 NIV) You may have heard it in an annual sermon on giving at church: everything we have and everyone on earth is God’s, not ours. The beautiful thing is, it’s true! Our belongings are essentially on…
Summer begs for the tagline “vacation.” Summer vacation—doesn’t that sound good? I’m the child of two travelers, and our summer vacations were epic. Each year my dad pulled out Mobil Travel Books for us kids to help choose a destination and accommodations. We had one super sophisticated requirement in our rubric: the hotel had to…
Once upon a time, I was an adventurer. I was fearless. I lived each day to the fullest. Carpe diem and all that. I climbed mountains and flew across oceans. My passion to share Jesus was a fire burning, and I wanted to spread it across the world. I prayed aloud all the time, whether in…
You are overflowing with hope about some amazing thing that’s about to happen. You pick up the phone to call one of your people. You can hardly wait for them to answer. And then, when they’ve scarcely said hello, you blurt out, “Guess what?!” and tell them what you are over-the-moon excited about. Then they…
“You must learn to hold everything loosely…everything. Even your dear family. Why? Because the Father may wish to take one of them back to himself, and when he does, it will hurt you if he must pry your fingers loose.” ~Corrie ten Boom I used to hold on to things long after I needed to…
On the rental car’s passenger seat sat a worn red leather portfolio. I was on a gravel road between two small towns in Wisconsin, and as with every work trip, the portfolio was my trusty sidekick. Its corners are worn, there’s a small scratch on the back, and there’s a blue pen mark on the…