The emotional despair of rejection and loneliness can have us looking for love in all the wrong places, much like the oblivious heroine so often portrayed in movies. I watch in silent frustration as she strives to earn the love of some unworthy guy. As the trope goes, she is overlooking true love—the faithful affection […]

At 8:45 pm on a quiet Sunday night, I noticed my nine-year-old son’s shadow appear in the dark hallway while I folded laundry and watched television. He approached me, sniffling with his head hung low. His tears alerted me. Did something scare him while he was in bed for the night? Pulling him close, I […]

Lights down. Check. Decorations packed. Check. Pine needles vacuumed. Check. It’s official. Christmas is over, and a new year is upon us. Every January brings us a fresh start. And we all love new beginnings. It’s a chance to reset, a chance to try again. But within a few weeks, maybe even days, we sometimes […]

No one would ever call me an optimist, yet some part of me has always believed that things would work out for my good. I grew up in a Christian home, and the church culture of the ’90s fed me a lie that I consumed and digested wholeheartedly: if I just followed Jesus, my life […]

Someone recently gifted me a red gerbera daisy plant, which I potted and proudly placed by my front door to bring people joy as they approached my home. However, I quickly noticed the flowers drooping. Assuming it was because of the Alabama heat, I began watering them more regularly and moved them to where they’d […]