Destiny is a funny thing. We all want to believe it exists in us, but it feels mystical and elusive. It conjures up feelings of great longing and hopeless impossibility. But there is destiny in you. God has an inevitable, wonderful future designed for you. Wrap your brain around it. Let it sink in so that even your subconscious knows …

As I sit here writing this, it’s Mother’s Day morning. In the month of June, we celebrate fathers. This time of year, I can’t help but reflect on the journey of single parenting. Deuteronomy 11:18-20 (MSG) is one of my favorite parenting scriptures: Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and …

When I was in second grade, I was stricken with a sickness that required one week in the hospital followed by another week spent at home recovering. I don’t remember much about that time. I played board games with the nurses. Yahtzee, I think. There was a nasty red liquid they made me drink. When I whined, my dad made …

I hope you have a dream. I hope there is somewhere amazing you long to be or some important thing you wish to accomplish. We need that in this life. Dreaming is good for soul and spirit. I believe God gives us all dreams. These dreams, promises, visions are often long in coming. Sometimes we find ourselves trudging through the …

If someone asked you to describe yourself in one word, what would it be? Last month I wrote about the radical love Hosea had, first for God, and then for his adulterous wife. (You can read it here.) Today I want to address Hosea’s children. In Hosea 1:2 (TLB), God told him to take a prostitute to be his wife, …

I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. I wonder: Can the human heart comprehend what it means to really love others well? I know I want to. I want to love as God loves, but too often when confronted with a contentious situation, I’m not proud of my response. I have read and re-read the story of Hosea in recent …

Stuck. We’ve all been there. Stuck in the past. Stuck in the present. Stuck worrying about the future. What do we do, and how do we run after God when all we feel is stuck? The man by the pool of Bethesda had been sick for 38 years while lying right next to the place of healing, waiting for someone …

Christmas is a season for new – new birth, new hope, new beauty. Sometimes, however, the holidays are as hard as they are joyous. Good becomes great, but just as much, sadness can become despair. Old wounds are magnified during this time of year. The have-nots feel deeper and the voids more pronounced. When Christmas is hard, it just feels …

A few months ago someone said something about me that was untrue. I won’t elaborate. I’ll just say that it really stung; it kind of grated on me for a while. The thing that bothered me most was I didn’t understand why it was bothering me so much! As offenses go, it was rather minor. Even so, for some reason …

What if our greatest mistakes in life lead to our most abundant blessings? Major screw-up = amazing outcome. Wouldn’t that be awesome? We have all experienced God’s redemptive power upon accepting Him as Lord of our lives. But it doesn’t stop there. God can and will redeem and bring greatness from our mistakes when we submit them to Him and let …