I had lunch with a friend today. Part of my goal for 2024 is to build community, to find like-minded friends with whom I can walk through this season of life. A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to a friend I hadn’t seen in several years. We scheduled lunch, and it was such…
“Are you truly happy?” That was the question posed to me earlier this week in a conversation with a friend facing divorce after a decades-long marriage. It’s the fear of the unknown that creates so much anxiety, even when the marriage was unbelievably difficult, fraught with betrayal and pain of the deepest kind. Will I…
Someone asked me this week how I ended up remarried after divorce in light of biblical teachings. My response started with Deuteronomy 24 where Moses specifically allowed divorce so that women could remarry. I went on to Malachi 2 where God talks about the cruelty of men to their wives which ultimately leads to divorce, another time…
Recently, I heard someone talking about their favorite Bible story. As I began to contemplate what my favorite story is, my mind quickly jumped from story to story. As a child, I loved story of Isaac and Rebekah. I guess I’ve always been a romantic at heart. I remember hearing this story in Sunday School one day…
This week, I was listening to a sermon about belonging. Belonging to God. Belonging to a fellowship of believers. The pastor used the movie Toy Story to illustrate his point. Do you remember how Andy wrote his name on the bottom of Woody’s shows, marking him as belonging to Andy? No one could deny that Woody…
Have you ever been baffled by something you read in scripture? It actually happens to me frequently, but I always find myself wondering why God chose to bring Jesus through the lineage of Judah. Jesus is known as the Lion of Judah. Why not the Lion of Joseph? After all, Israel (Jacob) had eleven other…
I have been reading through the Bible chronologically, and I recently found myself reading through the book of Esther while I also listened to a sermon series about about the same book. I guess you could call it a true immersion. (On a side note, I am also super excited to go see Esther come…
Tomorrow is Good Friday, and Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection are on my mind–as they should be. For some reason, my mind has been asking if Jesus died for the narcissist. Let me start by saying the term narcissist has become a choice description for anyone who is self-centered. I think we have to be…
When [Joseph’s] brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him. Genesis 37:4 For the last ten years or so, I have read through the entire Bible each year at least once. And every year when I get to…
Three years ago, Lysa Terkeurst and her husband stood before man and God and renewed their vows following a painful separation after infidelity. They gave so much hope to those walking the painful journey of infidelity, a reminder that God is able. And God truly is able. He is able to heal the most broken…
As I sat through the funeral service, I couldn’t concentrate on the words being spoken. I kept hearing a still, small voice in my head. “Extend forgiveness,” the voice urged. It was my first time back in this church building since my husband had resigned his position as pastor of the congregation nearly five months…
Does the Bible ever leave you scratching your head? Do you ever feel like you end up with more questions than answers? The story of Joseph has left me wondering for years. As I was out for my morning walk, I was listening to a sermon about Joseph. Once again, I found myself wondering one…