“Look! I drew you something!” If you’re friends with any little kids, you know how special it is when they draw you something. Whether it’s a lopsided heart, purple clouds, or a misspelled message, there’s lots of love in a note from a child.

“You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” –Psalm 51:6 Would you rather have the ability to fly or to sometimes be invisible? When I was first asked this question, I thought it was a no-brainer. Flying

“I wish I could believe in God, but I’ve never heard Him explained in a way that made intellectual sense. He might as well be the Easter Bunny.” These are the words of a friend of mine who gave up on God despite the fact that he attended faith-based

Love Never Fails Murphy’s Law states that everything that can go wrong will. I don’t think it’s true, but the law seems to describe 2020 quite well. As if a global pandemic wasn’t enough, we’ve faced murder hornets, wildfires, political tension, and economic

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs Did you know that God practices a voluntary form of amnesia? It’s true. The only One who knows everything about everything chooses to block certain memories from His mind. “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,” God graciously

Love is Not Rude My heart sank as I checked my Facebook notifications. I had commented about emotions I was feeling due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While I’m confident of God’s goodness, I’m still very concerned about how the pandemic will impact people around the

Love Does not Parade Itself It’s easy to criticize the Pharisees, but I think we have more in common with them than we realize. Pharisees built their sense of worth by trying to look “good.” Speaking of them, Jesus

Love Suffers Long I ran my first marathon at 23. The first half was a breeze. By mile 18, I felt sore. At mile 23, a young man ran up beside me and asked: “Sooo… what are you gonna do after the race?” If he was asking me out, I totally missed it. “I’m gonna

Cracker crumbs stuck to his tie and broccoli to his teeth as Dr. Taylor told me his story. “She grew up in Texas, so she’d never seen snow.” He grinned. “The first time she saw it, she started twirling and dancing and laughing like a little girl.” They met in college in the '60s. She was an outgoing freshman. He was a nerdy senior.

Do you have a New Years resolution? I have a track record of failed resolutions. In 2013, I vowed to learn Spanish. In 2014, I promised to stop interrupting people. 2017 has arrived, and I’m embarrassed to say that no hablo español, and I do still interrupt in English. But some things need to be interrupted, like the way

Hey, you. Yeah, the person staring at the screen. I’d like to invite you to think about your feet. They’ve done a lot for you, so take a few minutes to acknowledge your ten-toed reality.  How far have your feet travelled today? Have you ever gone anywhere without them? Do you like them, or do you think they’re gross? Next, notice what

“This quote is exploding my mind.” That’s the text I received this morning from my friend Janessa, whose birthday just happens to be today. Jesus sent Janessa a beautiful birthday sunrise and a quote so epic it’s exploding my mind too. “Jesus is the fullness of our expectation” (Ellen White, Review and Herald, August 26,

“Do you cut yourself?” I ask. “No,” she whispers. “I burn myself.” She pulls up her sleeves to show me dark red lines all the way up her arms. “I use a curling iron.”  “I took the whole bottle of pills,” he says. “My wife found me passed out and called 911.” “I want

I sink down in my pew, cringing to the core. “It’s coming,” I think. "There’s no way she’s gonna make it.” “Oh night divine. Oh night when Christ was born." My palms are sweating. My face is turning red. "Why am I embarrassed? I’m not even the one singing!” But this poor woman is about to commit social suicide. I brace

“I hate evangelism!” my friend Edward said as he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “No you don’t,” I said. “You just don’t know what it is yet.” To be honest, I used to think I hated evangelism. To be extra honest, I have a personal preference for the word ministry, but that’s just because I’m working through my own