A Concentrated Thought: Hebrews 13:5-6

Am currently emerging out of one of the worst bouts of depression that I can remember. Transitions do that to me, but man. This one was wild! Thankful for brighter moments, day by day. It’s really hard for me to study/read the Bible when I’m depressed. But I still want to meditate on the truth. […]

An Impossible Target

My dad recently told me a story. He was just down South for a work trip and ended up at a shooting range with a few colleagues. He met and began talking to a world-renowned marksman; I’ll call him Jason. Jason pulled out his personal rifle and asked my dad if he’d like to try […]

The Humility to Change Your Mind

Maybe it’s because my confidence is increasing as I get older, but I tend to have rather strong opinions. Actually, I feel like I mainly just express them strongly. I reach for superlatives and colorfully big words to try to make the other person see what I’m saying. Sometimes I stretch too far. My tone can be […]

The Lesson of Maasai Gate

My dad and youngest brother visited David and me recently. One day, on our way to a blown glass place (it was beautiful!), we took a short cut through the national park. The one with animals. I love Nairobi. David’s dad was driving (so glad I wasn’t), and we maneuvered several pathways that required more […]

Where’s Your Focus?

The disciples fascinate me. For the first time, I’ve read straight through from Matthew to John and they are intriguing characters when seen in one fell swoop. One thing that stuck out to me was how many times Jesus explicitly told them that He was going to (a) die and (b) rise again. Seriously. So many […]

How I’m Learning to Not Be Like My Puppy

Our puppy, Everest, has finished her training with our wonderful trainer, and she’s honestly made a lot of progress. She is still disobedient sometimes (much to my dismay), but she’s made leaps and bounds. Where she used to try to run after every motorcycle within 100 yards of her, she now ignores them unless they […]

Friends like Jonadab

The Biblical passage spanning the details of Amnon and Tamar (and Absalom and David…) is a heart-wrenching story. I have to mentally prepare myself before reading it, to be honest. As I read through it this time, I paid more attention to a “supporting actor,” as it were: Jonadab. Both Amnon’s friend and cousin (2 […]

Just Because

I think I first saw the idea from Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts. This first book centers on listing things you’re thankful for as an expression of praise and a focus of the mind on those things. I appreciated her focus on specificity: zoom in on the details of what you’re thankful for, […]

Lessons from David

Just a few days ago, my favorite human had a birthday. Though he seems desperate to say that we’re “basically 30” now, we are decidedly not 30 yet. Almost. But not yet! It’s the second time we’ve celebrated his birthday as a married couple, and I’ve gotta say that I’m just as obsessed with him as […]

Emotions & Prayer

Yesterday was a really bad day. It might have been a combination of different factors (little sleep, lots of projects), but even the culmination of everything I can think of doesn’t usually hit me so hard. Such is the mystery of anxiety I suppose. Through the gritted teeth and scattered tears, I still prayed. I […]