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Today is my 40th birthday.  Cue the, “No way! You only look 29!” comments! Just kidding. Mostly. 🤣  But really, I’ve officially made this circuit around the sun f.o.r.t.y. times. Google tells me that in that amount of time, our planet has traveled 23 billion miles and my point on the globe is moving at 1,000 miles per hour as we rotate and spin. Do I really expect to accumulate that kind of mileage looking as fresh-faced and new as I did at the beginning of this ride? Getting older is a privilege, the gift of each new day stacking on the ones that came before, growing into a dizzying tower of grace. There is a confidence that comes from reaching this milestone. A confidence that I have found Jesus to be faithful and present through all my foibles and stumblings and victories and joys and losses and wrestlings. He has been with me for 23 billion miles and whatever happens in however many miles I have ahead of me, I know I won’t be alone.  So, let’s face these next years a...

Last night I got more direct with my Bible study than I often do. Sometimes as a teacher, it’s hard to speak on things that we know are areas where we also frequently fall short, where God continues to do the hard heart-level work that makes the spot tender to the touch. But it has to be said- and said to my heart, as well.  We are studying Philippians together this summer (over Zoom, because... 2020.) One of the themes that we just cannot get around is unity in the church, and the deep tie between unity and humility. In Philippians 2:2, Paul exhorts the believers to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”  Note that this is not a call to uniformity of thought. The early church was no less divided than we are today. Slaves and slaveowners, zealots and former tax collectors, groups of mixed culture, race, social class, political stance... and yet, Paul tells them to be of the same mind. How?! I think verses 5 and 6 clue us in to the an...

It’s time for a homeschool peptalk. I see you, feeling all the stress of 2020 somehow piling up and making planning for the new school year feel extra daunting. I see you, fielding questions from friends considering crisis homeschooling for the coming year, feeling excited for them, or fearful of legal ramifications, or conflicted about whether it’s even a good idea for them to homeschool in the first place. Maybe you haven’t been inside your church for four months. Maybe yo u haven’t left your house in two. Maybe your schedule is somehow returning to pre-COVID levels but with extra stress heaped up and a face mask strapped on top. God has not changed. The mission has not changed. We have been given the privilege of raising our kids with a wider view of the world and a deeper appreciation for what is true and good and beautiful. It is a worthwhile calling. We cannot control tomorrow. We cannot control how this next school year will go. What we CAN do is be faithful. Right now. Today. W...

I got my black dress out of the closet this morning. We have a gathering today, a time to mark the homegoing of a beloved man in our church family. I also have been talking with family members this weekend as we anticipate one of our membership going to see his King very soon. Last week I had a hard conversation with a friend as we wrestled with the fragility of our days.  This is hard. This season is hard.  The Bible says our days are like a vapor. Like a flower in the field. There, and gone.  Today as I prepare my heart for the hours ahead this verse is on my mind.  “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2 This is the end of all mankind.  I’ve been listening to John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life. What a poignant reminder in times like these. What will I present to my King at the end of my days here under the sun? Will I give Him m...