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Advent in the midst of Busyness
Let’s all say it out loud: The holiday season can be extremely busy. Crazy busy! Is it too busy? Perhaps. During these weeks, we find a new hustle in our step to get it all done – from decorations to gift shopping, visitors to parties. The busyness of the season can be fun and also exhausting, often leaving us a bit depleted. The busyness can also snuff out the importance and the why for all that we are doing. Why are we eager to give gifts to those we love the most? Why are we taking an entire month to prepare to celebrate and open gifts? Why are we scrambling to find that perfect tree or the most festive wreath? My hope is that your answer isn’t, “To keep up with the Joneses.”
Do You Know Your Spouse?
Have you ever woken up beside your spouse and realized you didn’t want to be there? You may have felt this way because marriage can be difficult. Trying to figure out how to relate and love each other for as long as you both shall live can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’re carrying bitterness toward your spouse. But it can also be daunting when you’ve grown familiar…
Don’t Just Sing Christmas Songs
The Christmas season is traditionally filled with many things: lights, trees, gifts, snow—if you’re lucky—and songs, loads of songs. I imagine that without much thought you could come up with five Christmas-themed songs right now. “Have a Holy Jolly Christmas”, “Jingle Bells”, “White Christmas”, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, “Little Drummer Boy”, “Santa Baby”—that list took me a little longer than a minute, but all those songs are quite familiar tunes. Now, these songs have little to no Christian significance, they are simply fun and frequently played holiday classics. We get used to hearing them and maybe singing along to the radio, but they don’t typically move our hearts beyond a feeling of nostalgia. But what about these songs: “Joy to the World”, “O Holy Night”, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Angels We Have Heard On High”, “O Come O Come Emmanuel”? Like the mainstream Christmas songs, it’s easy to sing these hymns of praise with little to no thought about what the words actually mean. But, unlike the others, these songs do have great significance. And so, inspired and encouraged by my church’s children’s ministry director, I’d like to make this Christmas season less about singing and more about worship…c
Gratefulness When Life Is Messy
In a few days, many of us will gather around a table to give thanks with family and friends. But as life goes, Thanksgiving may not be a time of cheer for all. As I thought about how to encourage my own soul this Thanksgiving, the Lord turned my heart to pray to him. I’ve seen pastor Tim Keller, quoted saying something like, “The only person who dares wake a king at 3:00 a.m. for a glass of water is a child. We have that kind of access.” We have access to the Great High Priest, the King of Kings; we have access to Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father and, during the busyness or difficulties of this season, it might be easy to forget to stop and pray. Therefore, instead of writing about all the reasons we ought to be thankful, I would like to share a prayer from Scotty Smith’s book Every Season Prayers. I hope this prayer encourages your faith during this season…
My Husband is a White Evangelical
Over the past few weeks, I have been contacted via social media by a group of white supremacists. They are extremist, hateful, and attack with no understanding of who they are attacking. Their threats are alarming, but not all that surprising. And to be honest, it’s almost easier to understand extremists—they’ve potentially been given over to their sin (Romans 1). But what’s confusing for many of us are the numerous people who seem to ignore racism, who sweep it under the rug, or who have categorized racism as a lesser evil than other evils…
What’s the Point of Enjoying?
When I open my social media feeds, I see a clear sense that most people are weary, discouraged, confused, or fearful. This has been a heavy year in many ways. 2016 even has it’s own saying. I’ve heard this year spoken or written about in terms like, “It’s 2016 doing it’s thing” or “2016 being 2016”. In the public and social arena, 2016 was a difficult year. And that’s true without even getting into the everyday struggles we’ve all likely faced. So, here we are, at the end of a difficult year and my new book Enjoy is set to release. It’s a book about exactly what the title suggests and so I’m left wondering, why bother?
Enjoy the Christmas Season With an Advent Devotional
After a few years of praying and writing, my next book, Enjoy: Finding the Freedom to Delight Daily in God’s Good Gifts, is finally (almost!) here! You may have heard of the book writing process and subsequent release compared to giving birth. If that’s the case, I suppose I am having contractions! Enjoy will be available through your favorite retailer and online on December 20, but you don’t have to wait to order a copy. If you pre-order the book, you will receive an Advent devotional called, Enjoy Advent, which I’ve written to encourage your faith throughout the holidays…
Life after Election Day
Next Tuesday is election day and, for the first time in a long time, I must say I’m concerned, even fearful. I’m not fearful about the results (I’m dreading the results, but not fearful of them). Instead, I’m afraid of how our country might respond. Unlike any election I’ve seen, it seems that the U.S. is in a lose-lose situation and the emotions resulting from election day could cause anarchy…
Reflecting on Germany: Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation
One of the things that I’ve always believed with regards to biblical teachings about womanhood was that if the teaching couldn’t be applied to both the woman in Tanzania and the woman in San Diego, then it might not be the appropriate interpretation and teaching. In other words, I think there can be a temptation for us to apply social and cultural norms to the Scriptures and call them “biblical.” Examples of this might be beliefs about homeschooling or being a stay-at-home mother…
Reflections from Germany: A Culture of Rest
I studied abroad many moons ago and remembered that there were quite a few cultural differences that I experienced. While I noticed those differences at the time, if I’m honest with myself, I mostly just traveled and “had a good time.” This time, however, was a bit different, probably because of age and definitely because of life experiences. This time I paid a greater amount of attention to the burdens of the people around me, to their joys, and to the general differences that make German culture unique. Over the next few posts, I’ll reflect on some of the things I learned and a few insights I think I gained while teaching at the Munich International Community Church women’s retreat. So up first: they rest and they rest well!
Is Now a Time for Mourning or Rejoicing?
I’ve been thinking about that frequently quoted text in Ecclesiastes summed up by these words: There’s a time for everything (Eccl 3: 1-8). I’ve often quoted pieces of that passage myself: “Now is a time for rejoicing”, “Now is a time for mourning”. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to realize every day has both mourning and rejoicing. There’s never a time when I’m not doing one or the other, and at some times doing both simultaneously…
Until the Fog Lifts
Independent, ambitious, and adventurous…that’s George Bailey. He was a dreamer with goals—-many goals. But as life goes sometimes, George’s plans would never be fulfilled. Instead of his dream of traveling the world, George got married, inherited a bank with an unconventional business model, stayed in the town where he grew up and met his wife, and began raising his four kids. So, when a mistake threatened his livelihood on top of everything else, George contemplated suicide.
Better than Optimistic
If you’ve only met me a few times or are acquainted with me only through social media, you might come to the conclusion that I am the-glass-is-half-full kind of person. You know, eternally optimistic about life. It’s true that I’m not much of a cynic and I do tend towards seeing the best possible outcome in situations but it’s not because I’m optimistic. Actually, I don’t necessarily think that things working out in the best possible outcome means that there will be rainbows and sunshine as it happens. In other words, I’m more of a realist. I think that the best outcome could actually come by means of a struggle or even suffering. So, when I look at the current state of our world, I’m not optimistic, but I have hope.
Fear and Terror
In many ways, I guess, we’ve always been in wartime. Since Genesis 3, there have been extreme conflicts between people groups, nations, and terrorism throughout the world. The recent bombings in New York and New Jersey as well as the stabbings in Minneapolis have caused a fresh wave of uneasiness in many of us. The response to the current violence has ranged from hope to outrage, but there’s been no shortage of fear. So what do we do? How do we respond to reality of terror as Christians?
5 Ways to Pray for Pastors
Over the past few years we have seen a number of pastors either fall into sin or burnout and then decide to call it quits. Now this isn’t new or even unique to the past few years, but perhaps because of social media and the internet in general we are more aware today of what’s going on in the church around our country and the world. And so with more news of pastors stepping away, it led me to really begin thinking about my own pastor and how I can care for him.
God Cares for Your “Little” Trials Too
“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:19).
Recently, I had one of those days. You know, those days when you get up extra early to pack lunches for preschool and jump in the car only for it to break down on the way. One of those days when tempers flare and your kids fight all day long. One of those days when searching for someone to help, anyone on the planet, comes up empty because everyone on the planet is busy. You wonder, could all of that happen in one day? Well, yes, it can and it does. But does God care about those days?
Five Characteristics of Life-Giving Accountability
We call it accountability. Beginning in 2001 I had the privilege each and every Friday afternoon to meet with two women for mutual encouragement and prayer. We did this for several years and remain good friends to this day. The reasons we started meeting were simple: we were young Christians wanting encouragement in our walk with God. We wanted to build a deeper, more meaningful friendship with a few women. And we were girls and loved any excuse to hang out and eat together.
It was a real friendship. The purpose of our meeting was simple but the benefits were endless and life-changing…
The Prodigal, the Legalist, and Grace for All
It’s football time in Tennessee! Fans are gearing up for tailgate parties, Saturday morning traffic jams, and noise, lots of noise. I love football season. But to the dismay of my husband, I don’t love it because it’s football season. Instead, I love it because the leaves will change. I love it because the smell of cookouts and charcoal burning will fill the air. I love it because we are getting closer to Christmas. So, really, I just love the fall and football season is an afterthought.
Gabby Douglas and What We Say on the Internet
Social media has made a way for strangers to share their opinion, often anonymously, and with little to no accountability. It’s awfully strange to me. I’m not setting myself apart from the crowd. I’ve definitely shared my opinion through social media, but it isn’t typically with strangers or even people I don’t know that well especially if my feelings are strongly negative. There’s a difference, which I think is often missed on social media and blog comments, between critical thinking and downright unkindness. That vitriol and lack of restraint reared it’s ugly head recently when Olympic champion, Gabby Douglas, chose to stand at attention rather than place her hand on her heart during the National Anthem portion of the gymnastics team medal ceremony. Her mother commented that if people knew what Gabby was going through, they’d think twice about criticizing her. She also called it bullying…
Can You Be Hospitable with Little?
I love to host people in my home—the more the merrier! The idea of one day owning a bed-and-breakfast and preparing a meal for strangers who have traveled far and wide, preparing all the Southern fixin’s you can imagine (eggs, bacon, grits, biscuits, gravy), makes this Tennessee girl jump for joy. Hospitality is a joy for me—not a burden. But a recent move has left me with far less space to host. It’s easy to excuse our inhospitable attitudes due to inadequate space or messy homes. Yet during this move I’ve been reminded that hospitality is a matter of the heart, not square footage or neatness…
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