There is almost nothing harder than watching a friend or family member who is hurting, and knowing there is nothing we can do to change their circumstances. It’s frustrating, it’s painful… And, on this Earth, it happens with crushing frequency. But, as those saved by grace and adopted into the family of God, we know […]
If you were to name all of the people who God used in the Christmas story to bring about the birth of Jesus into the world, who would you think of? I would say Mary and Joseph (obviously), the wise men, and probably the shepherds. All the people who are in a nativity scene would […]
Amongst all the other adulting we have going on around here — getting a new job, trying to get on our own insurance, and having a baby — we are also in process of trying to buy a house. That has been a long, agonizing, gut-wrenching process. But God has used this extra difficult phase […]
“That was, without a question, one of the hardest things I have ever done,” Benjamin typed on his iPad one year ago in church, to avoid disrupting the service with whispers. I had watched while he walked back to his seat from his place at the piano and sat down heavily in our pew, and […]
What do you thank God for? I know we all have a standard list — salvation, our family, our friends, food, and home. But I’ve realized I tend to thank God for the same things over and over again. That means there are things I’m leaving out! Without being intentional about thanking God for His […]
There is a lot of hurt in our nation right now. A lot of despondency. Confusion. Anger. There is an overwhelming amount of frustration, on both sides. And there’s worry. Even from Christians. Even from those who voted for our new president elect. And into this tangle of emotion, people keep proclaiming the words, “Trust […]
We can’t believe it! Even still, at 15 weeks along, we look at each other and say, “Is this really happening?” Benjamin and I are really, honestly, it-must-be-true-because-we-now-have-ultrasound-photos going to be parents to a squirmy, cuddly baby! It’s a big undertaking, this parenting! God is using my body right now, and our parenting later, to […]
They say the first step is admitting that you have a problem. So here it goes. I have blog envy. I was going through some very encouraging Christian blogs this week, reading what they had to say, poking around to see what they did, and reading about some of their successes. God has gifted some […]
It’s a pretty common argument. “What would you do if your child was born with a cleft palate? Would you fix it, or leave it because, I mean, that’s how God designed him in the womb!” And it’s true. We do say that God designed babies in the womb. We do quote Psalm 139:13 — […]
Benjamin and I celebrated the anniversary of our first date last night with some delicious Culver’s ice cream. As we were sitting there in the restaurant, I kept thinking about our relationship – about how much it has changed and how much we have changed. We have grown so much, but still… Benjamin just doesn’t […]