LAUREN WASHER

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…