Old Truths In A New Year

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Old Truths In A New Year

All our attempts to celebrate New Year’s Eve fell through, so a friend suggested we just celebrate later and call it “Happy Old Year" party. I am VERY into parties that have a dash of strangeness to them, and this excites me more than if our plans had worked out.

It also made me chuckle because it seemed like a nudge of God’s elbow, him once again, in a season of newness, drawing me back to oldness. In church New Year's Eve morning, I kept thinking over and over again how for me, in this season, I do not believe God is calling me to anything new. I think he’s calling me to something old, something eternal.

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Mean January & Gospel-Minded Goals

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Mean January & Gospel-Minded Goals

Annually, I lament the absurdity of following sugary sweet and cuddly December with January's VERY HIGH BAR for all things. The resolutions, the meal-planning, the budgeting, the fitness, the vegetables—I can't take it! I miss you, December!

I only partially mean it. Fresh starts are fun. New Year's Resolutions are noble. But something about January's brand of hustle irks me a bit, and this year I finally figured it out: the things we start must be rooted in Jesus's finished work on the cross. Anything else is asking a goal to be a god.

(Audio file included!)

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If You've Ever Suspected Motherhood Stole Something From You

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If You've Ever Suspected Motherhood Stole Something From You

Her eyes reflected all the things I suspected were true: In my wrinkled shirt, sloppy bun and a cart full of kids vying for crackers, I was a walking stereotype. A cautionary tale.

Sometimes the crumbs in the crevices of the minivan and the blowout at the restaurant and the temper tantrum at Target and the forever undone to-do list join together and create a choir. The choir sings a haunting melody with lyrics that our college selves swore could never be said about us: Look at you. Get it together. You're a pitiful shadow of your former self.

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Savoring & Sharing: When God Calls Us to Silence and When He Calls Us to Speak

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Savoring & Sharing: When God Calls Us to Silence and When He Calls Us to Speak

The reason why we do things matters, you know? I can tell the difference in my soul when I’m changing outfits because I feel insecure and when I’m changing outfits because the southern weather (once again) unexpectedly changed seasons without warning.

I can also tell the difference when I’m listening to a sermon or a podcast or reading my Bible because I am chasing after togetherness with God or when I’m listening/reading because I want to send the information off to someone else as quickly as possible, like spiritual hot potato.

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The Pastor's Wife

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The Pastor's Wife

“Your husband is in seminary. What would he think about what you’ve done?”

I was 21, and these words shattered my heart. They have become a haunting soundtrack to some of my darkest days, and their rhythm has sometimes been hard to escape. It was the first time my husband’s position had been used as a weapon against me. It would not be the last.

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