Brace yourselves, friends: wedding season is here! One of my favorite parts of ministry life is helping starry-eyed couples prepare for their big day (and the years that will follow). While it's tempting to place a huge focus on the wedding itself, there are some personal investments you can make to grow your soul between... Continue Reading →
You can tell a lot about a person by simply walking through her house. Pictures, smells, objects, colors, fabrics: each space is a window into its occupant's heart. As we dwell on the Proverbs 31 woman, let's look at where she dwells. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat... Continue Reading →
Our church just wrapped up a series on Psalm 23, but my fleece-covered heart isn't quite finished processing it yet. I need to sit in those truths just a little longer, let the Shepherd do what He does. The marvelous thing about Scripture is that we never really "master" it—the more we grow and learn... Continue Reading →
Confession time: I'm a complete nerd. I love learning, period, but I currently especially love learning about how God wired me. (If you're with me in this nerd boat, hello!) One of my favorite parts of the recent training for church planters' wives was unredeemed relating styles. It was not a pretty or easy process,... Continue Reading →
Have you ever felt bored during church worship? People are yawning, Granny's in the back sleeping, friends are texting on their cell phones. No wonder non-Christians see this as lame: it is lame, forcing ourselves to sit through it because it’s what we should do. It’s what makes God happy, right? No. He's probably drooling... Continue Reading →
Mother's Day is almost upon us, and you wouldn't believe the amount of baggage it brings. What about the women struggling with infertility? Or the ones who lost a mama this year? Or whose child passed away? Or whose estranged mother brings up painful memories of abuse or neglect? Or a myriad of other wounded... Continue Reading →
My husband had a full-on conversation with a grandma dressed in one of those huge t-shirts with a bikini-clad body printed on it, completely oblivious to the rest of the camp staff's smirks. It didn't even register. Mrs. Geraldine had just wanted to play a prank on this new youth pastor and tease him about... Continue Reading →
I went to my first training for church planters' wives last week and have been processing ever since. If you don't mind, I'd love to share a new tool I picked up that I've used several times already: what I call the fig leaf exchange. Let's set the scene. Pastor Pete Briscoe says that "religion... Continue Reading →
Spring carries with her a basket of sweet-smelling fresh fruits. She weaves between the picnic-goers and the bankers and the homeless men with eyes that don't see. Her scent follows behind joyously. She is no respecter of persons: the new buds are for everyone. Those tiny speckled eggs, this flower-spiced breeze, that quick rainfall—it is... Continue Reading →
