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 […]

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 […]

Every spring, I put my head down and speed walk past the card aisles announcing Mother’s Day. The signs’ prodding inquiries ask whether or not I’ve bought a gift for my mom. Their reminders rip scabs off wounds I’ve tried to heal. Sometimes I gather my courage and head into the aisle to play with […]

Jodie felt like walking out of the church building and never going back. Her life was pretty tough, and she expected church to be a place of refuge, not a battleground. When she got through the door, though, there wasn’t much peace. First, someone tried to pressure her into signing up for a new meeting, […]

[Editor’s Note: This excerpt is adapted from Humility by Gavin Ortlund, ©2023. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.] Some years ago, I preached a sermon on envy. I had never really thought in depth about envy before, so it was fascinating to study this particular vice. It was also terrifying. […]