Bible

Ever since I was young I have loved reading novels. I felt as though I had entered a whole new world with every book I opened, and the characters within them became some of my dearest friends. More recently I’ve been into reading nonfiction books written by celebrities or successful people who want to share their story. A favorite of mine this past year is a book called Girl, Wash Your Face. I had been itching to read it ever since I skimmed the inside cover during a previous Barnes & Noble trip. After reading the introduction, I was already underlining and highlighting words like crazy. It’s an inspiring book that explains many of the lies women tell themselves and documents one

The delightful game of Candy Land has brought about many award winning meltdowns in our home including (but not limited to) boards being slung across the room, people body slammed to the floor, and other bizarre behaviors that seem unnatural. It’s all fun and games…until someone gets hurt. But there is one game that doesn’t cause my competitive children to go crazy, and that is the game of Chutes and Ladders. In this game, the little cardboard cutout kids have to climb up the ladders to the 100th square to achieve the status of winner. Are You Good Enough to Climb All the Way Up? How do the players progress? Well, you have to do more good than bad. If you are

“Somebody please hit me!” These are the words I thought while witnessing my four-year-old daughter sling The Jesus Story Book Bible across the room. Ballet lessons… Really? I’m thinking more like a quarterback on the football field at this point. The heavy book was destined to hit one of the three sitting ducks on the couch, and sure enough, it soon found its target: directly in the face of my six-year-old son. Ouch! Insert screaming, yelling, fury, and a near riot… Exhausted from a long day, I would normally continue to plow through the Bible story. But on this particular night, my husband—being the gentle “shepherd” that he is—tucked our convulsing son into his arms and made sure that his head was not

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey “When life is good and we have no problems, we can almost let ourselves believe we have no need for God. But in my experience, sometimes the richest blessings come through pain and hard things.” – Anne Graham Lotz There’s a high ideal in humanity that we should find purpose in our pain. It’s instinctual to ask why bad things happen to good people and difficult to understand why an all-loving God doesn’t come in and save us and others from horrible life circumstances. Maybe you’re struggling with a fresh wound, a broken heart, or a loss that you can’t make

A momma deer and her delicate fawn pay us a visit. We watch them stroll across our back lawn, munching clover on their way to the safety of the forest. Our voices stay hushed because words travel easily through the open windows and morning air. If she hears us, she’ll run. There is no misunderstanding; quiet spaces are safe places. Instinctively she knows it—instinctively, I do too. There is something holy in our respect of this quiet, of our yielding to this peaceful moment of two beautiful creatures grazing on our lawn. It’s an acknowledgment that life thrives in stillness, that God’s presence is felt when we are quiet, allowing balance to take over where turmoil dwelt. Our stillness holds space, like