The first years of my marriage were anything but easy. Yes, many times provided cherished memories that still make me smile, but we also struggled through tough terrain. We confronted fears that threatened to cause a civil war, healed from past wounds that followed us into our union, and drudged through days I simply questioned…
Tag: Faith
Extraordinary Life isn’t Found in Carpe Diem
My high school English teacher showed Dead Poets Society at the end of every fall semester. As trees grew bare, Robin Williams inspired our impressionable young minds as John Keating by getting on top of his desk, reciting poetry, and encouraging his students to write their verse. My worldview shifted, though not for the better, when Keating…
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
It was Christmas eve, impregnated with an importance that thankfully, didn’t visit annually. We all knew next Christmas one of us would not be there, so we held tight to the time gifted to us as we celebrated the birth of my Grandma’s Savior, who she would be meeting…soon. We gathered around the hospice bed…
3 Things Everyone Needs to Remember about Fear
#1 FEAR IS NOT FROM GOD Did you know that much of the fear we experience is not from God? Fear can be brought on by many circumstances but can also be demonic, intent on capturing its victim. The enemy will use fear to cripple. So, if fear has anything to do with it, it…
Finding Renewal While Wasting Away
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For…
A New Beginning
There are times in our lives when we actively seek change. Some roles we can give up quite gladly, but there are also times when God uses unpleasant circumstances to grow us. He moves us from where we are, where we have become comfortable, to somewhere new. Often, for change to occur, we need to…
After Graduation—What I Wish Someone had Told Me
Graduates of 2020 will never forget the unexpected circumstances that shifted their expectations for what finishing one chapter of life and beginning another would look like. For many, it became impossible to walk across the stage, shake hands, and receive the paper proof that they did indeed finish. Still, graduates around the world are stepping…
What Is a Decade Worth?
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12 (NASB) A decade’s worth of familyEnough to fill the heartWith hope, love, and happinessEven when we are apart A decade’s worth of hugsEnough to go aroundAt least one for every dayWill make our…
3 Pitfalls of Doubt for the Religious
Some people wear their scars on the outside. Life circumstances make it obvious that there is a need for wholeness and healing. We love to see God’s grace and mercy transform regular humans into what 2 Corinthians calls a “new creation.” The addict turned counselor. The depressed turned joyful. The wanderer who finds the way…
3 Truths to Remember in the Face of Doubt
When it comes to the Christian walk, doubt is one of those topics that makes me cringe. It reminds me of hard times, of troughs in my journey as I walk with Jesus. Doubt is relentless in attacking some of our core beliefs—doubt in the existence of God, doubt in God’s goodness, doubt in God’s…
Anchored Voices 