What Comes After Grace Runs to You
We've had Good Friday and then a Saturday. Some call it sad, or silent, and for some it's just Saturday--that day of getting things done. But Sunday comes and with it the recognition and celebration of Jesus' resurrection. There's sunrise services, pancake...
How Sin and the Holy Week Collide
The memories play on repeat. The shame weighs heavy. How can it be? There is this grace that pours down like sweet rain. Will I dance in it or will I run from it? Will I see that it's running into grace that wipes shame away or will I let shame whisper it's lies to...
Power and Grace and Your Life on Display
How many times have you gotten up and within fifteen minutes wanted to crawl back to bed? Or you just wondered why you keep pushing forward and onward and ahead? Last week, I wondered "why" and my why's took me down dreary paths. I moped and questioned God and...
How the Performance Mentality Interferes with Grace
Have you heard the phrase, "What's the catch?" or "If something is too good to be true, then it probably is?" For example, commercials. If anything brings out the skeptic in me, it's commercials. Nothing is as it seems. But listen long enough and pretty soon, we've...
A Both/And Kind of Grace and Truth
I'm a both and kind of girl. It's both coffee and chocolate. It's both chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. I can't separate the two. I mean, I can, if I have to, but I'd prefer not. But those are the easy both/ands. Those are the ones that I can take and run with...
Rejection, Approval, and All that Jazz
The Problem We don't live in a perfect world where everyone is accepted and celebrated. There's actual rejection and perceived rejection and our responses to both can dictate our view in life. I can't stop rejection from happening, but I can stop expecting it by...
How Hope in God Points the Way to Refuge
I need hope in God. Do you? One look around and dismay fills my heart. Darkness abounds and it threatens to swallow me. How does one stay hopeful and light-filled in a world of darkness? By finding refuge in the living God. Last fall I wrote a...
The Hope Series: How to Stand Firm From a Position of Hope
The Hope Series: Trust and hope grow side by side. As trust grows so does hope. As we declare hope, trust grows. Both find their root in God's love. How well do you receive God's love? Do you receive it with arms wide open or do you feel you have to bring something to...
The Hope Series: Where there is Faith, There is Hope.
"Where there is life, there is hope," is an old Roman adage. But it's not a certainty. It's not a guarantee that just because you're alive, you have hope. Hope is so much more than being alive--it's nebulous and concrete--it can't always be explained, but must...
The Secret of The Hope Series
The Hope Series Our hope lies in the living God. He is living. He's not dead or far off, but near and close. He draws us to himself and as we respond he draws us closer to him. You find joy in bringing him praise. You bring him praise when you choose hope over...
Hope for When Hopelessness Abounds
Hopelessness is barren and covered in destruction. It appears as though nothing can grow. Hopelessness strips us of growth, it destroys life, and it leaves barrenness in its wake. It appears as if all is lost. Call me an incurable optimist, but even when...
Through Him We have Hope Over Shame
The Problem I've battled with anger issues off and on throughout my life, and underneath the anger lies shame. I'm ashamed when my temper gets the better of me. I'm ashamed at the words that fly out of my mouth that do more damage than a club. Words...