I don’t buy a new purse very often. My last purse was falling apart before my eyes, so I caved and bought myself a new one. I picked a very plain, pretty grey one. Not too big, not too small, just perfect. As soon as I got it home, I transferred only the essentials over. I didn’t want it overflowing with stuff I didn’t need. I wanted to keep it ...
Have you started singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” yet? Admittedly, I’m a humming machine right now. The sights, sounds, and nostalgia of the holiday season have drawn me in, and my senses are celebrating from the simple pleasures. As I snuggle in my cozy blanket on the sofa, candles flicker on our kitchen table, twinkly white ...
Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, ...
Our family got some terrific news last week. It was the sort of news that called for hands-in-the-air praise on the town square. But I was so reluctant to share the good news with the people who had prayed for us most earnestly, the ones who sent daily kind words and Bible verses over texts, the ones who came to the house to pray. Here’s ...
Last year around Christmas, Mark and I braved a local shopping area for some gifts on our list. We braced ourselves for crowds and lines, loud songs playing over store speakers, irritable drivers fighting to get the last parking spot. When we walked through our door an hour later, I took a deep breath and thought, “Peace at last.” In our ...
A neighbor’s pine tree looms tall behind the fence in our backyard. Every day, it generously sheds its needles onto our side of the fence, and every day, we need to sweep them. It’s a task you can’t overachieve on one day so you can shirk it the next. It’s an unavoidable daily chore. This season seems to be full of unavoidable daily chores and ...
I’m a failure. It’s all my fault. I’m not good enough. People will resent me. I’m not really forgiven. I’m not a good mom. I talk too much when I should shut up. I stay silent when I should speak up. God is disappointed in me. Have you ever said one of these lines? I have a growing list in my journal of lies I’ve repeated and believed over ...
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35 (NLT) A couple years ago, my mother gave me an ornament that read, God rest ye merry gentlemen . . . the women are too busy! I keep that ornament up all ...
I still remember our first Thanksgiving after my husband Ericlee died. My family tried to hold it together. We tried to stay the course with certain traditions, but it was clear everything was off-kilter. He wasn’t there to run the Turkey Trot. He wasn’t wearing his silly apron in the kitchen, helping me chop the butternut squash for the soup. ...
A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” So the Egyptians ...
