For years, I was happy being single. Naturally, during my years as a single Christian woman, I had crushes and possibilities, but inwardly, I thought that I was probably one of those Christians meant to be single my whole life. Instead of viewing this as a loss, I would instead get excited to think about all the people I could meet and help and all the trips I could take!
Read MoreGrowing up I loved everything to do with the arts. I would put on skits for my parents, direct my friends in mini plays, and use a camcorder to record the world around me. I loved the arts but I was confused how the arts and loving God could go together.
Read More“This was not what I expected, God.” The words came out of my mouth as I stared at a text message that changed everything. In the course of a week, I went from single to taken, and I was standing in the middle of the whirlwind, wondering what happened to my plans. “This is not the direction we discussed!” I panicked.
Read MoreThis whole year, I have been reading along in the New Testament with my faith family. We’ve taken it one chapter a day, five days a week—leaving a day for catching up if we’ve fallen behind—and resting the last day.
Read MoreA friend of mine lost her little girl this week. I won’t share the details out of respect for their family, but the events of this week have been on my mind and heart almost constantly. Even when I went to go to sleep last night, I couldn’t, because I was so consumed with thoughts of my friends who are walking through this tragedy. Do you ever wake up in the night hours, burdened for someone? That was me, all night long, last night. I know that whenever that happens, God is giving me that name for a reason: to wake up and to pray. I don’t usually get out of bed when I do this, but sometimes I do. I share that, because it’s so important to follow through with that thought when we’re suddenly thinking about someone we know.
Read MoreAs I grow up, some of the parts of my faith that seemed so simple and clear at first have turned out to be more complex than I initially realized. If you, like me, grew up in a Christian church environment, you probably remember some of the messages and stories that were directed towards children. One that I particularly remember was based on Matthew 5:13, which my very young brain at the time paraphrased as meaning that as “the salt of the earth,” Christians were meant to stand out from the crowd and make the world better. Of course, to a child this seems like such an easy task, but it turns out that standing out from society as a Christian does not happen without intention.
Read MoreGod is good. I do not doubt God’s goodness for a second, but what happens when your faith in His goodness is tested? There are numerous examples in the Bible with this certain scenario, but one in particular shows the power of the words: but if not, the Lord is still good.
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