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 […]
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 […]
It’s Christmas morning in the early 2000s. Rainbow lights tucked between evergreen branches twinkle above me. Shredded gift wrap litters the floor like candy wrappers. Steven Curtis Chapman sings softly from our CD player. Out of nowhere, it strikes. A painful ping in my chest accompanied by an unwelcome thought. This will be over soon. […]
I always love Christmas. My wonder for the season thrills at the thought of twinkle lights, evergreen wreaths, hot cocoa, and the beauty of the nativity story. But December 2013 was particularly special—I was expecting my second baby, a girl. Her due date? Christmas Eve. I imagined a Hallmark ending to a Christmas pregnancy. I […]
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 […]
I recently saw a smartphone hack for reducing the number of unnecessary photos stored on your phone. In just five minutes a day, you can search the day’s date in your photo app and delete all unwanted pictures taken on the same date in previous years. It’s a quick daily practice that frees up lots […]
Nothing prepared me for the shock of that day in the exam room and the sting of the words, “No heartbeat detected.” In that moment, my husband and I went from overjoyed to utter anguish. We thought our prayers had been answered after years of infertility. But just as quickly as God gave, I was […]
When grief barged into my life in my late twenties, I questioned God’s goodness and his very existence for the first time. Under the weight of all my questions and doubts, faith felt like a mystery. I didn’t want to walk away from God, but I didn’t know how to believe when things were hard. […]
Looking back over three decades of diapers, playdates, carpools, music lessons, and sports events, I realize that motherhood is a lot of ordinary days interrupted by unparalleled joys and sprinkled with unwanted sorrows. Some of those sorrows run deep. If you have a child who, by words or deeds, refuses to acknowledge Jesus as Savior […]
The Fullness of Joy Series celebrates the launch of the new Give Me Jesus Journal and the Fullness of Joy Collection. Each article in this series is a devotional on a passage from Psalm 16. Read the other articles in the series here: “Embracing Childlike Faith” by Jasmine L. Holmes “Keeping Close to God” by […]
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