I've learned to manage my expectations for 'special days' over the years. Sometimes a Christmas will be full of grief or homesickness, not joy or laughter. Sometimes a birthday will be spent like any other day, minus a few extra text messages. Sometimes, a Thanksgiving will be spent home sick instead of feasting with loved …
God as Mother
The Bible uses countless pictures, stories, and illustrations to help us understand the fullness of who God is – partially because none of them, in and of themselves, can fully capture His character, what He’s like, and how He operates. So as a quick review, a few of the ways the Bible describes God are: as fire, cloud, shepherd, king, father, husband, light, water, bread, a warrior, a lamb, a lion, and yes – as a woman and a mother.
Lust Is a Women’s Topic, Too (for FamilyLife.com)
If lust, porn and fantasies are men's topics, women who struggle in these areas may wonder, "What in the world is wrong with us?"
Is Your Marriage on the Rocks? 4 Things To Remember (for FamilyLife.com)
When your marriage is on the rocks, it’s easy to lose hope. But here are 4 important truths to hold onto to not lose heart.
2022: Making Death Mentionable Again.
Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com I considered making "death" my word of the year for 2022. "Morbid much?" you may think to yourself and consider clicking away. Don't worry, I'm choosing "alive" instead. But I almost chose death because I'm realizing that thinking more about death would help me live better. My dear friend, …
The Good News for an Unhappy Marriage (for FamilyLife.com)
An unhappy marriage is a form of suffering. But while culture suggests we avoid suffering at all cost, Scripture offers a different take.
A Prayer for Tired, Weary Parents
I don't know about you, but I've been feeling pretty worn down recently. Pandemic, politics and parenting have my baseline anxiety a bit higher than normal -- I've been catching my jaw clenched, my breath shallow, my back sore with tension. When anxiety is high, my threshold for other stimuli becomes lower. So when my …
5 Ways My Husband Supports My Mental Health, A Family Life Guest Post
“Today was not a good day,” I darkly greeted my husband as he entered our apartment and took in the scene. I laid on the couch while the kids had some screen time in our bedroom. My struggle with anxiety and maintaining my mental health had taken a more prominent role in our lives over …
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Day 23: Band-aid
Typical of little people, my children have both believed in the power of a Band-aid. Not just for broken skin, band-aids are requested for all kinds of boo-boos. Bug bites, scratches, or burns, and bruises, soreness, or bumps -- the act of adding a bandage has magical powers to soothe. It’s not just band-aids either, …
Day 20: Trash
A couple of years ago in preparation for a Bible study on the book of Galatians, I read Tim Keller’s excellent book Galatians For You. When he gets to the end of chapter 3, he stops and camps out on how Paul uses the imagery of clothes all over his letters and helps us understand …
hope for the sojourn 