We miss out on the gift of knowing God in a real, experiential way… When we always pretend to be okay, strong or together. When we hide in busyness, entertainment or crowds. When we can’t admit our need for help,…
Recent Read: If I Perish
In recent years I have been greatly impacted by Christian biographies and If I Perish was no different. The author and focal character of the story is a woman who stood alone among thousands of kneeling people. Her defiance of…
believing God vs. believing everything else
Every mental struggle, underlying worry or prideful tendency can be traced to what I’m believing about God in that moment. The same with every deep joy, grateful thought or confident decision. In every moment I have a choice to either…
discovering the God I could truly live for
It was when the cycle of striving, perfecting, worrying and pretending became too much and I was ready to give it up that God said, Finally. This is where we can start. Humble. Needy. Desperate for something outside myself to be the answer. Then I realize how much was lacking in my view of God. So I spent months asking, Who is God, really? Who is He to me? Who is He for me? What is He like? What does He sound like?
discipleship — “have you met this side of God?”
I believe my mission is to cultivate life with God and invite others into it. I extend invitations across Beautycounter or graphic design conversations, in the playroom with Anna, at the kitchen table with other families, in hanging out with…
A personal story: the appearance of streams when inside is a desert
I’d like to tell you a story. A flyover at least. A story of a girl and her experience with God. I began an exile from Him – the Holy Creator Father God. As I grew, spending every Sunday within…
enjoy God because you can
God likes me. And I like God. This wasn’t always true for me. (Rather, I struggled to believe it was true.) Sure, I knew from the Bible that God loved me, but somehow Him liking me felt a little farther…
the fire I hope my daughter catches and keeps burning
I pray every day she will come to see God as her greatest decision and lifelong pursuit but the decision is hers, not mine. Confession. As a helper and fixer, I will probably wrestle often before God that I can’t…
something better than easy belief
I’m noticing a pattern in my relationship with God: not only do I learn new things, but He takes familiar truths and redefines them. For example, in high school, I absorbed the term sanctification as God’s shaping me to be…
from ‘religiously right’ to Jesus, only Jesus
I sat in the pew, taking notes, attentive to the pastor in front of me reading the story of a Canaanite woman’s encounter with Jesus (Matthew 15:21-28). I confess the story is one I mostly glaze over, because it seems…
freedom is more than an optimistic sentiment
While seeing friends in North Carolina we visited the Billy Graham library. Walking amongst items and testimonials of those Graham served alongside and those to whom he served up the transforming person of Jesus, I couldn’t help but marvel at…
four questions that help activate faith in my life
It was one weighty situation after another, and I felt paralyzed by the need to think, feel, and decide wisely. Choices of when to speak and when to be quiet, how to wade unfamiliar relational waters, and how to listen…