Four years ago, someone recommend an intriguing Bible reading plan. Her suggestion: read the Bible through, start to finish, as quickly as possible. She said if you read as much possible each day, you could finish reading the Bible in about three months. At first, I was skeptical. My typical Bible reading included a slow, in-depth, sometimes three month study of one book of the Bible. I’m confident the Lord has used this approach to grow my faith and cultivate my relationship with the Lord. So, out of curiosity, I decided to try it, and committed to a rapid read-through of the Bible. I began in October, and by the…

Four years ago, I wrote an article for Abbey Wedgeworth’s Advent Devotional, on the topic of self-pity. I’ve often wondered if she asked me to write this piece because she could sense my tendency toward it. You see, I regularly struggle with self-pity. In many ways it feels like the sin Satan likes to trap me in when life feels a bit, shall we say, ‘extra’. And not in a good way. Whenever I begin to wallow, I pull up this article and remind myself of the truth. As I face a number of challenging life circumstances this year, I’ve found myself battling this sin once again. And I imagine…

My earliest memories of summer include sitting in my Granddad’s blue pickup truck, barreling along the bumpety-bumpety road and over the rickety-rackety bridge to his garden. He always had a cooler filled with bottles of coke, a jar of peanut butter, a knife, and a sleeve of Ritz crackers somewhere in the front seat of the cab. We sat crowded together chewing Bazooka bubble gum, listening to his jokes, eager for an adventure in the fields. Once we reached the garden, Granddad would look us in the eyes and in his sternest voice say, “Don’t step on anything green!” He wasn’t kidding. He knew we couldn’t tell the difference between…

Inspired by my friends Ashlee Gadd and Katie Blackburn, I decided to begin Thanksgiving week with a list of things I love. Writing this list brought me much joy; I could keep going. And even more than this, I realized my love for each item on this list runs much deeper than the thing itself. There’s joy beneath the thing, gratitude beyond just the gift itself. If you love lists, I’d encourage you to create your own, “I love…” list this week. I think you’ll be glad you did. I love sunrises. I love chasing the sunrise down the street in my slippers so I can get a better view.…

As she climbed up to join me on the couch, she inched her way closer and turned her head toward me. “Why are you sad, Mommy?” I wasn’t crying, but I know my face looked dejected and she could tell something was wrong.  “Sometimes there are things in life that are really hard, and today is hard, and it’s just making me really sad.” She snuggled in a bit closer. “Do you ever feel sad,” I asked her. She nodded. “What makes you feel sad?”  “When people kick or hit or they’re mean.”  We both paused, silent with our thoughts, and then I looked down at her and asked, “What…

Each fall, I do a quick read through of the Bible. Beginning in Genesis, I read as much as I can each day, and then pick up the next day where I left off. It’s been a helpful rhythm for me over the past several years as I seek to understand the bigger story of the Bible. Today, I picked up my reading in the book of Job. We know Job mostly as the man who suffers, and rightly so. An entire book of the Bible records his account with suffering. Suffering which God allowed him to endure (Job 1:8-12). Even though I’m familiar with this story and have turned…

Sometimes we shy away from what Scripture teaches because we don’t like what God has to say. It’s a sin as old as Eden. A sin which had severe consequences for Adam, Eve, all of God’s good creation, and extended to all mankind. But God’s commands and instructions were always for his people’s good. The Lord established ways to help keep them faithful. His laws offered protection, security, provision, and peace. (His laws also included provision for redemption when they strayed, ultimately finding fulfillment in Jesus. Praise the Lord!). Why am I telling you this in a series on marriage? Because God’s Word has specific things to say to wives.…

If you’re anything like me, you don’t like to feel needy. We don’t want to be a burden to anyone and we think other people’s needs are more significant than ours. Sometimes we feel embarrassed by our inability to cope when life is hard. We hide our feelings of inadequacy behind a smile and a cheerful voice. When someone asks how we’re really doing, we offer half-truths about the realities in our families and the fears we carry in our hearts. Our culture doesn’t help. The world is constantly feeding our aversion to neediness by telling us we can do it all and be it all. So we start believing…

To fellow military wives (or future ones): You’re going to be tempted to keep track of all the things your husband misses. Anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, algebra homework, broken bones, looking for a home at your new post, major decisions in your kid’s lives, news of a diagnosis, the hardest phone calls you could ever imagine. You’ll be tempted to count all the times you lived in uncertainty about his whereabouts or what tomorrow’s schedule might hold. Please, don’t do it. Yes, grieve what you’ve lost. Cry over his absence. Be sad that his face his missing from the photos. We’re free to ache over the memories we can never share.…

After six years in coastal Virginia, I expect a slow transition to fall. But every year I’m still a little disappointed. Our maple tree in the front yard is still green, there are no leaves to rake, and we’re still wearing shorts and sandals. Until yesterday. For the first time this season, we put on long sleeves and cardigans. I even wore a jacket to sit around the firepit with friends last thing. She might be slow to make her entrance, but fall is finally here. In many ways, our feelings about marriage are similar. We want everything to be easy, smooth— and sometimes even perfect—right away. Know all there…