Toxic or Not? In my previous blog post, I identified what a toxic person is, according to Scripture. The word “toxic” is often used indiscriminately to describe relationships, but Christians need to be careful that our terms line up with Scripture.  As important as it is to correctly identify a toxic person, it’s equally important […]

What Is Toxic? I’ve seen and heard a word floating around increasingly the past couple of years describing others: toxic. It is used to describe friendships and romantic relationships and family dynamics. In essence, it’s another way of saying a relationship is really unhealthy or dangerous.  But here’s the problem: the definition of what a […]

Hours before the appointment at which I was told that our baby had died in my womb, I threw up. The nausea that accompanied this pregnancy came on strongly around five weeks, and I continued to throw up for weeks after the baby had left my body. I had forged ahead through all of the […]

Meaningful Moments After Miscarriage It was only a couple of weeks after our first miscarriage. I was leaving the church bathroom on my way to pick up my son from the nursery. A fellow mom I barely knew stopped me at the door. “Hi Lara,” she said. She had that sympathetic tilt to her head […]

“You Shouldn’t Judge.” Once upon a couple of years ago, there was a wildly popular book written by a self-professed Christian author. It was released by a Christian publishing house and marketed on Christian platforms and websites. It was a fairy tale come true. Crushing it at the top of The New York Times Best […]

Approaching Your Pastor While listening to podcasts or reading books and blogs, you’re likely to come across something that doesn’t sit well. The source is Christian, but you’re unsure whether the idea presented is biblical or wise. Whom do you turn to with such questions? Friends? Social media? A trusted website? As a pastor, I […]

Savor the Savior this Advent The final months of the year are highlighted by wonderful things to engage the senses. The first hints of fall usher in spiced beverages, pumpkin baked goods, scarves and sweaters, the crunch of leaves, and long-awaited cool breezes. Then winter brings peppermint and eggnog and cocoa, sipped slowly. Fires blaze […]

Doubt and Faith I believe doubt—particularly the deepest, most terrible kinds—are not spoken of enough. I understand this. For a long while, I didn’t share my doubts. For those of us in public ministry, it can feel as though we are not allowed to have them. But we are just as fallible as the next […]

The Vulnerability of Suffering My husband and I were married in the summer of 2015. In the summer of 2016, I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. These are benign tumors of the uterus that cause painful periods and heavy bleeding. This came as a shock to me, as I had always considered myself to be […]

A Choice to Trust Five years ago, I stood at the edge of a 30-foot wall with belts and ropes cinched around me as my boyfriend (now husband) coaxed me to step backward. “You can do this, Lara,” he said. “You’re going to be fine. It’s completely safe.” He and a fellow co-worker had convinced […]