As a kid I loved stickers. Every single sticker I could get my hands on got a place of honor in my Lisa Frank sticker book. Mostly they were random “good work” stickers from school or a smiling tooth giving a thumb’s up from the dentist’s office. And 90s kids, remember the sticker boxes? They opened like a treasure chest to reveal several individual compartments filled with rolls and stacks of colorful, sparkly stickers.
Read MoreIn law school, one of the first things you learn is that it is just as important to know opposing counsel’s arguments and case law as it is your own. You need to anticipate their every possible defense and know every piece of law that could support the other side’s argument.
Read MoreIn so many places we are told to put on facemasks these days. It has become normal. Slip it on, slip it off. That got me thinking. What if someone asked the opposite? Just imagine. Something along these lines: “For your own good and the good of others, please remove your mask.”
Read MoreDying eggs. Baking a ham and whipping up fluffy salads. Picking out the finest pastel dress from your closet and maybe a matching hat. Hiding those eggs for little kiddos to find (or maybe just your friends). Picking up some chocolate bunnies and sugar-coated marshmallow chickies to nibble on for weeks to come. Despite their fun and entertainment, the accessories of Easter can take a lot of work and attention. It is easy to get wrapped up in all of these activities and forget what Easter is.
Read MoreI remember how cold it was that day: lower thirties, typical Chicago weather. Although it was November, snow had not yet kissed our city streets. “All you need to do is be cool. Just walk into that restaurant, smile and ask for an application. That’s it. Just ten minutes of bravery. The worst they’re going to say is no, and if they do, you can try Olive Garden next.”
Read MoreWhen I was little, my neighbor had rows full of strawberry plants in her garden. At the time, I knew that people grew vegetables, but the idea that you could grow something as delicious as strawberries in your own backyard fascinated me. I would have been only slightly more excited to find out that you could grow chocolate.
Read MoreThis week, we’re going to get to the heart of the Gospel that for many continues to be a paradox: how could the death of one man provide salvation to an entire world?
Read MoreRecently I was listening to Becoming Us: Joel and Moriah Smallbone. It’s a short, cinematic podcast about their relationship and marriage. For those who don’t know, Moriah Smallbone is an independent Christian artist and also part of an all-female band called Trala. Joel Smallbone is the lead singer of the band For King & Country. They both have stages and platforms - separately and now together. One of the interesting things they talked about was the process from engagement to marriage and how there were moments of loneliness for Moriah. This led me to a couple of thoughts I would love to share.
Read MoreNo other year has the message of Easter hit home like it did this year. A few weeks out from the holiday, my sister texted me the concerning news that my two-year-old niece was unwell. They had admitted her to the hospital for pneumonia. We prayed for her and believed that she would recover. A week later, unexpectedly, my niece’s health took a dramatic turn for the worse and within a few short hours, her life hung in the balance.
Read MoreI heard a statement recently from someone who has been hurt by another in the church. When I say "in the church," I mean within the body of believers that makes up the church, not the actual church building. That got me thinking about what we do when people hurt us.
Read MoreWhere is your faith placed? Is it in man? History and current events should help you conclude that will never be the best idea. Or is it in Jesus Christ? I hope this is your answer.
Read MoreOne of the questions that drives many people away from God is a variation of: “Why does God allow suffering?” Because our human mind doesn’t understand why a good God would allow bad things to happen, especially to those who are called His. The last few weeks, we’ve been talking about righteousness and justification. This week, we begin to dig deeper into the fruit of what it means to be justified before God and what type of character is produced through suffering.
Read MoreFriendship is something we all know, experience, and offer, but rarely is it something that we stop to truly think about. When was the last time you looked up a TED Talk on how to be a better friend or bought a book on improving your friendship skills?
Read MoreTrue confession - I am 100% a Type 2 on the Enneagram. For those who don’t know, that means I’m a helper. At the age of 29, I’m running a non-profit, I’ve helped start a different one, and lead several ministries. Right now, I’m finally learning the gift of boundaries. God had to take me on a harrowing journey for a season to learn that importance, however!
Read MoreAs someone who loves the water, the baptismal brought familiar comforts. The gentle pressure of the water hugged me and wrapped the robe around my body and legs. I submerged into the silence and emerged to the words, “raised to walk in newness of life.”
Read MoreMany times in the course of my adulthood, I have quoted this familiar verse from Scripture. Before I go any further, I have to talk a little about why this verse says what it says—the context of this verse among the verses preceding and following. The portion of Scripture this is from has the title “Christian Liberty” and Paul, the writer, was talking about seeking the good of others. Most likely, he was speaking of the types of meat people of the Jewish religion could and could not eat, versus what the Greek unbelievers they were with were eating and he was telling them that whatever they did should be for God’s glory—not their own.
Read MoreMy single season lasted for over a decade, so through my twenties, this passage is one that I came back to often when I needed to have my hope renewed. Because Abraham waited 25 years to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to him - as the years passed and his and Sarah’s bodies aged beyond child bearing, Abraham had to choose to believe against every type of impossibility. So, that’s what we’re going to study today: how to believe when all your hope is gone.
Read MoreI would like to consider myself a woman reasonably gifted with words. I normally know how to string sentences together, but I also tend to talk way too much and too often (even making a career out of it!) so perhaps I’ve just had a lot of practice. My greatest God-moments, though, are when He is working in a way that I can’t explain or write down, and He gently whispers to me, “Rest in Me, instead of needing to define Me.”
Read MoreWhen I first stumbled upon Wall Street Journal bestselling author Emily P. Freeman, it was on her podcast. I saw it linked and shared somewhere that my mum brain can’t recall, and the title of it resonated with me. I was in a space that I’d never been in before, unemployed in the traditional sense of the word and at home with two littles. I finished up my paid ministry role in 2019 knowing that I wouldn’t be returning, so I was at a loss as to the ‘what now’ for my life. I was looking to find my Next Right Thing - I was looking for a new beginning.
Read MoreIf there is ever a time to be holy, it’s during Holy Week. It’s a time to repent and reflect on the most transformative week in history. We respond to the week with remembrance and reverence. But before we approach the week with efforts to attain our highest level of holiness, we need to reflect on our call to holiness: not only what it means to be holy, but how we are to be holy.
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