I once read of a woman whose face grew wrinkled at an exceptionally early age—late twenties. She tried all manner of lotions and potions, to no avail. Her husband cupped his beloved’s face tenderly in his strong hands and assured her that she was lovely; the most beautiful woman in the whole wide world, and she needn’t try to fix anything.
Continue reading “Believe That He Loves You”Unusual Kindness
In my book Deep Roots, Good Fruit, I echo the words of the shipwrecked Apostle Paul in Acts 28:1-2, with a chapter entitled “Unusual Kindness”–a reference to the natives of Malta.
Here is a story of unusual kindness I have never before told.
Continue reading “Unusual Kindness”Valor Without Renown
A time may come soon, said he, when none will return. Then there will be need of valor without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defense of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.
~Aragorn, Lord of the Rings
Years ago, I deleted my Facebook account, which I had created for a writing mentorship. I kept Instagram and followed along, sharing quotes and Scriptures and links to my weekly writings.
It was a slow fade, but soon I had a check in my spirit about the increasing minutes I spent scrolling. One quick glance always seemed to morph into another. Harmless fluff and fairy tales. More often than not, it led to random paths, not soul food. I would glance at the clock and wonder: Where did those thirty minutes go?
Continue reading “Valor Without Renown”In Sickness and in Health
We laugh about it now, some 15 years later. But at the time?
Not so funny.
The doctor, with his face mere inches from mine, was sweating as he gripped my left wrist, employing a tool that looked like a can opener to saw apart my wedding band.
Continue reading “In Sickness and in Health”When the Fall Gets Busy, Anchor Your Family in Church
The slow days of summer are in the books. As evening temperatures begin to cool, hints of autumn are emerging. Alongside such whispers of fall come the gale-force winds of the family calendar: school, sports, and extracurricular activities. Excitement rises alongside tension as children settle into a new school year and parents try to piece together what often feels like an impossible jigsaw puzzle, schedule-wise.
I remember those days well, as I homeschooled four children involved in many activities. Between school, practice, lessons, and social events, autumn felt overwhelming. I am eternally grateful that my husband and I drew a firm line: church was non-negotiable.
Continue reading “When the Fall Gets Busy, Anchor Your Family in Church”In Your Father’s Arms
Dearest Little One,
I scribbled a note to myself last week, a reminder to order a Christmas stocking for your cousin, born last May. He is our third beloved grandbaby, and with each new sprout on our family tree, your Papa and I purchase a stocking with our little love’s name stitched at the top.
I smile, thinking that a year from this December, your stocking will lie bulging beneath our Christmas tree, and by then you will be crawling through piles of wrapping paper and ribbons, squealing with delight, entertained by all your cousins.
Continue reading “In Your Father’s Arms”Dangerous Obsession
Where are the wise, older saints? she asked me as we visited, the pair of us sipping coffee and bearing each other’s burdens.
We are longtime friends, nearing our mid-fifties, and devastated by the stream of precious women waltzing away from Christianity, building sandcastles out of fool’s gold, falling for the promises of this world, as the crashing tide rushes in and levels.
The lack of mature Christian women willing to gently come alongside and equip younger women with the glorious truths of the Bible is astounding.
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A young Christian woman (one of many, it seems) has built an empire on social media. Her TikTok platform promotes non-toxic living— from cleaning products to makeup to clothing to furniture to food. Extravagant oils, organic meats, and cost-prohibitive protein powders are highly esteemed, with guilt-inducing videos pleading with women to replace all of their toxic furniture, clothing, bedding—pronto! pronto!—and on and on it goes. Hundreds of videos, thousands of hours spent heralding the duty of non-toxic shopping, alongside plenty of paid endorsements.
Continue reading “Dangerous Obsession”Lead Your Children Into The Sanctuary
Our oldest grandson recently spent the weekend with us, a monthly event that my husband and I enjoy to the hilt. It is largely an unchanging routine: We load up the snack drawer and cookie jar, and before we know it, we are tossing the football, building Legos, driving matchboxes, designing train tracks for Thomas the Tank Engine, reading good books, singing, and playing Go Fish and I Spy. In the cooler months, we roast marshmallows over the fire pit and sip coffee-milk on the front porch. Regardless of weather, there is always ice cream.
It is a big time.
Come Sunday, we go to church.
Continue reading “Lead Your Children Into The Sanctuary”A Lantern in the Night
It often feels serendipitous—the way people have appeared in the nick of time, illuminating my path.
Those lantern lights are gifts from the kind and providential hands of God, whose timing is exquisite, knowing exactly what his children require to become more like the Son. The Lord knows who are his, and orchestrates seasons of suffering to whittle away the sin clinging stubbornly to our frames, sins working to diminish what we ought to become. How gracious of him to send people to help.
Some of God’s lanterns I have known face to face: beloved family and beloved friends, while others died before my time, saints of old, discovered through Scripture and biography, men and women whose devotion to Christ still illuminates God’s path, posthumously.
Other lanterns have been lesser-known people, waking, walking, and working in quiet fidelity, largely unseen by most.
Today, I remember one.
Continue reading “A Lantern in the Night”Don’t Follow Your Heart
Do you find yourself following your heart’s desires or God’s desires?
Are you awakened, brought alive by worldly things or heavenly things?
As John Calvin so famously said, our hearts are idol-making factories, and isn’t that the truth?
Every idol is rooted in self adoration, broadly revealing itself in a mantra running rampant.
The slogan?
Continue reading “Don’t Follow Your Heart”
