"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forth, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor, and cherish, til death do you part?..." "I do." "Wait, I wasn't finished. And do you promise... Continue Reading →
You might be assuming from the title that today's post is about how to avoid negative mental patterns. While there is a ton of biblical material to back up why such an endeavor would be important, that's not the direction we'll be taking. Call it intentional misdirection. (Abracadabra!) The danger of thinking about toxic people—or,... Continue Reading →
Have you ever encountered a really gentle presence? Someone you can trust your heart with? A safe place where you might fall apart or celebrate deeply? The gift of being that for others is wildly understated in this rough-and-tumble, me-first culture full of noise and rush and ego. Burden-bearing is precious work. So on behalf... Continue Reading →
"And if he falls in love tonight / It can be assumed / His carefree days with us are over / In short, our pal is doomed." (Timon and Pumbaa) I don't remember how old I was when I first heard the saying about what assuming does. After recovering from the horror of hearing an... Continue Reading →
"You can't sit with us." Cheeks flush, eyes water, and any shred of dignity is squished like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the bottom of a backpack. Thus begins an all-too-common struggle for people who were made to crave connection. It happens in the kindergarten class party. It happens in the high school... Continue Reading →
A lot of my thought life is taken up with the family of God, specifically the local church. As a pastor's wife, it's kind of my job. We make a big deal about one-on-one discipleship, small groups, Bible studies, Sunday morning services... but we don't really talk as much about just hanging out with each... Continue Reading →
When it comes to sports, I don't really know how the points work (like at all). I pretty much just care about which team has the best colors and cheer when everyone else does. (Yay! Do the thing! Win the points!) But despite my utter lack of knowledge about athletics, I do comprehend what a... Continue Reading →
Since moving to Putnam, I've had more chats over coffee (well, hot cocoa, anyway) than I can count. This is one of my favorite parts of ministry as an introvert. I get to skip the typical small talk and dig deep one-on-one about what really matters: people's hearts. Sometimes it's not at the coffee shop—though... Continue Reading →
Our culture has gone through a gigantic shift when it comes to openness about sex. My grandparents' generation could hardly whisper about it, but today, unless you're Amish, you can't go any significant amount of time without being boldly confronted by it via billboards, commercials, movies, music, magazines, social media, etc., etc., etc. I think... Continue Reading →
I had three best friends when I was a preschooler: Jim, Angela, and Mossip Eyelash. Who cares if nobody else could see them? We had the best adventures ever. And then they moved away. But you know, whatever. You could probably point to a different kind of friend for every major season of your life... Continue Reading →
The Dwelling Place 