Most buildings in America aren’t built to last forever—a fire, hurricane, tornado, or other natural disaster could easily destroy them. So on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., I was struck by the permanence of the buildings. All the essential government buildings, the national monuments, the White House, and even most of the museums are […]

A friend and I squeezed in one precious hour together the week after Christmas last year. They had gotten a bouncy house that fit perfectly in their garage—an ideal gift for all our energetic children. While the big ones bounced and the babies snacked, my friend and I dove deep. What have you been reflecting […]

When I started my journey as a Christian reader, I was hungry to know God, and Christian nonfiction was my meal of choice. I devoured books voraciously during that season. But I didn’t realize the books I was reading were incapable of satisfying my hunger. They were hyped up on sugary, me-centric content with little […]

It’s mid-afternoon and I have almost nothing to show for my day. Instead of crossing tasks off my list, I’ve spent hours replaying a conversation I had yesterday with a friend from church. I’ve been repeating her words and rehearsing what I could have said that would have made the conversation more fruitful. But I […]

Our Michigan-based family loves summer (No more snow! The lake! Hiking! Berry picking! Sunshine!). But to avoid the dreaded “summer slide,” I purchased some school-related activity books for my children last year. As I made that optimistic purchase, I failed to realize that in the upheaval of our regular routines, we would only crack the […]