I’ve recently taken up cycling and I enjoy it. I love being outside to begin with, and there’s something special for me when I’m on my bike with the wind at my back and the bright sun beaming down on my face. It’s refreshing. Of course it doesn’t always work out quite like that. There are often times when I’m dodging potholes, praying I don’t hit the squirrel that darted out in front of me and fighting incredibly strong gusts of wind. There was one time when the surface became uneven and I was certain of my doom. Thankfully, I’ve had enough training to know how to handle the bike. My foundation was strong and though I could have fallen, I was prepared for that change in the road. That highlights my goal in cycling: if the ground shifts, maintain a strong foundation.

When I lost my father in 1997, I thought my little world might crash around me. Even as I think about it now, my heart begins to pound and my eyes well up with tears. I was 19 years old at the time and I don’t know if there’s anything more precious to a little girl (or a young woman in my case) than her father.* It was a great loss. I wasn’t a Christian at the time of his death so I couldn’t have ever predicted how much the Lord would use my father’s death to reveal His great love for me…

My daughter loves to give gifts. Almost weekly she comes home with something to give to me. “I made this for you, Mommy,” she’ll say grinning and looking endearingly at me with her big brown eyes. Last year, she wrapped a Christmas gift for me and couldn’t wait for me to open it. In fact, she was so eager, she made me open it two weeks early! I was happy to oblige for the sheer joy of watching her light up. But as much as she enjoys giving gifts, I’d dare say that receiving a gift is pure exhilaration for her. She can’t believe we’d think of her. She won’t stop talking about the gift…at least for the day (she is a kid and kids tend to move on to the next thing). The point is, she receives gifts with open hands, humbly, with excitement and joy, with thanksgiving, and never once does she ask if she needs to repay you or earn what she’s been given. I wouldn’t go so far to say she doesn’t believe she deserves the gift, but she does know how to receive it….

As I said last week, I love social media. I really do. But the hold it has had on me over the past year became quite obvious as I began evaluating my time. I have no plans to completely retreat from Twitter or Instagram or Facebook. I’m not making a grand exit or even halting some form of weekly engagement. I’m simply attempting to make social media less invasive of my everyday life and work…

I love social media. Love it. I enjoy looking at the pictures of my friends’ kids and all the beach trips every summer. I can celebrate when I see a friend who does something I can’t do well—like take the perfect picture of a sunset in a foggy Smoky Mountain sky…

The right side of my face is throbbing and I haven’t stopped sneezing since last Thursday. That’s the current state I am in. Although I was just diagnosed with the flu yesterday (Monday), I believe I’ve had it for almost a week. In a few days’ time I’ll likely be running around as usual, but for now, sitting and lying down is about it. Today I attempted to write an intelligible post and realized that the task was futile. Sickness does something to your brain. I am, however, in good spirits. I laughed while typing this paragraph. Woe is me and my fuzzy brain…

Today’s post is a continuation of yesterday’s, “Rethinking Busy.” So if you haven’t already done so, you might want to read that one first before tackling this one, which shares some time-management tools I’ve considered and some I hope to incorporate for the new year…

I sat across from a ministry partner in December, and we discussed my goals and dream and hopes and desires for the future. It soon became apparent to him that I don’t really have a lot of goals or dreams or hopes. My work and ministry life has been an odd combination of taking steps of faith and a complete lack of ambition…

Apart from God and his sustaining grace, I can do nothing. This was true in 2017 and will be true for 2018. In my introductory post on goals for the New Year, I shared that I would be setting one goal in each of the following areas: spiritual, professional, technological, marriage, and family. I want to begin this series of blog posts by sharing my experience and encouraging you to think about your spiritual goals for the year…

I rarely ever do New Year’s resolutions. As a matter of fact, it would be safe to say I’ve likely never done a traditional list of resolutions. A few years ago, I did decide to choose a word for the year. Now I can’t even remember what the word was—that’s how haphazardly I approached the process…

Thern has been out of town for a week and last night I found myself desperately in need of prayer. I was on the phone with my Thern, sobbing. I was filled with fear, confusion, doubts, and sorrows. I realized that a situation I’ve been praying about was truly out of my control…