I grew up on a small farm in Canada. One time, a vet misdiagnosed one of my parents’ horses as having strangles, a highly contagious bacterial disease. It was only after a large vet bill that my parents took a closer inspection and saw the true issue: a brewing infection from a stick stuck under […]

Have you ever tried to fake joy? If I’m honest, I have. Sometimes I wake up on Sundays and have to remind myself that I “get to” serve and worship with my church family. Then, on Monday morning, I prod myself with reminders that I “get to” enjoy the roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship and […]

Several years ago, a friend invited me and my wife to their magnificent home in Hawaii for a delightful vacation. Among our host’s many recommendations of restaurants, ice cream shops, beaches, and hiking trails was a list of the ten best spots to watch the sunset. It intrigued us, and we went to spot number […]

My brand-new brown and pink Bible sat on my bed in front of me. I flipped through the various books of the Bible, feeling a touch overwhelmed. As a new believer who hadn’t grown up going to Sunday school every week, I knew I wanted to study the Bible and seek God in his Word. […]

For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with the burden of longing for the next season—eyes set on the next shiny milestone—while being told not to miss a single second of the one I’m in.  As a sixteen-year-old girl, I romanticized the idea of going off to college and living out my grown-up […]

On a day filled to the brim with endless work and home tasks, I furrow my brow as I rummage through my desk drawer. Where are all my pens? I don’t want to slow down. There’s too much to do! I let out a heavy sigh. Under a neon orange sticky note, I find a […]

On a warm summer morning, I set up a table and two chairs in our backyard. While the baby naps, my oldest son and I sit next to zinnias and bees and dip our brushes in water and paint. I watch from across the table as he purses his lips in concentration, exploring the mix […]

Editor’s note: Content taken from Sunday Matters: 52 Devotionals to Prepare Your Heart for Church by Paul David Tripp, © 2023. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.   I wear a fitness ring. It is an amazing piece of modern technology that charts my sleep. It tells me how […]

I’ve lived in Minnesota for almost eighteen years, and sometimes winter still surprises me. The harshness of the bitter cold, the sting of the wind, and the abundance of cloudy days can make it hard for even the hardiest Minnesotan to persevere. By late February, we wonder, Will winter ever end? Some seasons in life […]

I creep down the dark halls of the church basement, a one-year-old clinging to my side like a baby monkey. All is silent. I pad past closed classroom doors, all dark except for a beam of light slanting through the high windows. I wiggle my eyebrows at my companion on my hip. She shrieks with […]