I believe one of Satan's greatest tools is shame. He wields it delicately and tactfully, yielding a greater blow than much else can muster. It slides into our hearts after being whispered in our ears and grows and divides like a cancer, forming new lies...
I love a good children’s story; I love the way it engages youth and adults in equal measure. Some of these stories will undoubtedly be considered classics for as long as books are read: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, The Giver, even Dr. Seuss....
Who knows you best? Who has seen you at your best and at your worst? Who has seen you when you're in the in between of your best and worst? Who has seen you when you're energized, upbeat, creative, and goofy? Who has seen you...
I've always been fascinated by small towns. Maybe it was the teaser I got by growing up on the edge of an old family farm, or maybe it was my overactive, Tom-Sawyer-and-Laura-Ingalls-Wilder mind, but I've always been irresistibly drawn to a Mayberry lifestyle on the...
The prayer I prayed the most before we left for Israel was that I would retain and remember as much as possible. While I still fear that I might forget, what the Lord did for me instead was refocus my thoughts on what I needed...
Upon returning from our recent trip to Israel, I have frequently been asked, “What was the one thing that was most impactful for you on the trip?” My answer has been consistent: it would have to be the time we spent in the Garden of...
“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward...
I am so thankful to say I have a baby boy growing inside of me right now. His name is Thomas, and we are so excited to meet him in the next month or so. As the weeks wind down, I’m well aware of how...
When I read Hebrews 5:2, the sentence, “He is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people” resonates deep in my soul. Because that’s me—ignorant, wayward, rebellious, broken, sinful. The verse goes on to say, “because He himself is subject to the same weaknesses.”...
A tree is one of the most beautiful displays of God's absolute sovereign brilliance. Here is a created entity that serves in so many roles in this world. A tree can bear fruit, provide a home for creatures, or fight erosion. Most importantly, a tree...
After last week’s warning from Hebrews 3, I clearly identify my natural tendency to harden my heart in virtually every area of my life. In verse 7, we hear that warning again: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.” Here, the writer...
A few months ago I decided to pick up Tolstoy’s War and Peace for a bit of light reading. I mean, I knew it was a big book, but multiple people had recommended it to me as one of the best they’d ever read, and...
How quick I am to call places my home. How eager I am to connect with new people and hold tight to old friendships. I could say my home is Chesapeake, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Nashville, Martin, or Greenville. I could say my “second home” is...
It’s been a long week, I’m ready to be home, and my hands smell like people. I’m writing this between airports, coming home from yet another work trip. And at the end of each day while we’re traveling, my hands always smell like people. It’s...
Our culture romanticizes words such as “wander,” “adventure,” and “free spirit.” If you take a scenic hike, you better snap an artsy picture, slap a filter on it, and upload it to Instagram. If you travel to a foreign country or visit a well-known city,...
At my daughter’s school they are studying indefinite pronouns. I don’t personally have a memory of learning indefinite pronouns, per se. Do you? All. Another. Any. Anybody. Anyone. Anything. Both. Each. Either. Everybody. Everyone. Everything. Few. Many. More. Most. Neither. Nobody. None. One. Other. Several....
When I lived in Wilmington, NC, I attended a church there that encouraged us not to make New Year resolutions, but to choose one word that we would like to see God work out in us for an entire year. I loved this challenge while...
It was 1982. I was a wide-eyed, naïve, college freshman dancing in my pj’s, singing a brand new song and pretending to party like it was 1999! I blinked and 17 years went by. Suddenly it really was 1999. The world was afraid of what...
The holiday season was the most wonderful time of year for some of us. For others of us, it provided a painful reminder of how broken the world is in which we live. Many struggled with difficult life circumstances such as job loss. Others tried...
This summer I had a memorable conversation with my Dad. He will turn 65 in a couple of months and he was talking to me about insurance options that my parents had been discussing. As we sat in that small coffee shop in Rehoboth Beach,...
Our current community group study has me excavating the depths of my heart and taking a thorough inventory of my sin patterns and their effect on my life. It’s a dark and lonely road. I am learning how easily I gloss over, legitimize, or even...
Absalom was known as the most cunning, handsome, and ambitious of David’s sons. The Bible describes him in 2 Samuel 14:25 saying, “Now Absalom was praised as the most handsome man in all Israel. He was flawless from head to foot.” I don’t know about...
2 Samuel 12 begins, “then the Lord sent Nathan to David.” Many of us can think back to those specific moments in our life when we came face-to-face with a God-sent friend. For most of us, those moments have only happened once or twice, but...
My friends make fun of me incessantly for being the sentimental sappy one, and I would be deceiving myself if I tried to deny the label. They've watched me save cheap orange pom-poms from big football games, drive the long way around just to look...
I grew up with the understanding of God’s grace before I understood how desperately my heart needed it. I fully believed that He lovingly accepted me no matter what I did. I fully believed His love was unconditional, that He would never walk away from...