I wish you could meet Harlie. She knows what’s up. I met her over a decade ago at the bakery next door to my church in downtown Atlanta. I’d go there five days a week and order coffee. You want to get better at turning strangers into friends? Here’s a pro tip: Remember names. Someone’s…
Your True Identity
Whether you are regarded as somebody or nobody in your family, job, school, or church, you are somebody to God. Whether you achieve great or small things, your infinite worth and value to Him are undiminished. God thinks highly of you and wants you to see yourself as He sees you. He wants you to…
Pray for the Dad Who Rebuilds
I have friends who like to restore cars. I have other friends who like to restore houses. Many times we like to restore things because they are broken or because fixing something usually costs less than buying it new. But I think many enjoy the challenge of a fixer-upper because we enjoy the process…
Fighter, Finisher, Faithful
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. — 2 Timothy 4:7 To have a life of impact, I need to be three things: a fighter, a finisher, and faithful. This sound advice was written by Paul near the end of his life, in a letter…
God Isn’t Uncomfortable With Your Grief
Grief is uncomfortable. Not just for the griever, but for those next to or in the general vicinity of the griever. Of course, I knew nothing about this until what had begun as a season of gratitude quickly and unexpectedly transitioned to one of deep grief. On a cold January night, I arrived at the…
Get Uncomfortably Kind
We tend to think that kindness is easy. Soft. Nice. It’s something you learn in kindergarten — how to say “please” and “thank you” and share your Goldfish crackers. Kindness has gotten a rep of being like Glinda the Good Witch, all gentleness and smiles. Someone with a “No, please, after you, I insist”…
El Shaddai
Scripture: Genesis 43:14; Psalm 131:2-3 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty [El Shaddai] . . . I have made you a father of many nations I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” —…
Waiting… and Waiting
Waiting. No one likes it. We don’t want to wait in a long line at Costco or wait for God to send the spouse we’re praying for. It’s hard to wait to hear from the school we want to attend or the company we want to work for. It’s tough to wait for lab results…
Your Body Is Not a Trophy
Trophies are funny things. We’re supposed to feel a personal sense of achievement because of some fake gold plastic thingamajig purchased from an online catalog? Note that my distinct lack of trophies has probably given me this perspective. So if you’ve got a million trophies, and you see this differently, grace and peace to…
Bedtime Liturgies That Help Us Rest in the Work of Jesus
Failure and Grace in the Story of God In a very real sense, parenting is one long process of revealing who you are. And usually that is not pretty. Perhaps it’s a one-year-old who won’t sleep. Or maybe it’s a pre-teen who talks back constantly, a five-year-old who is still wetting the bed, a third-grader…