I had a conversation with another mom a few years back. We were sitting at her kitchen table, both of us nursing cold coffee, talking about grace and faith. She said, “I keep trying to have more faith. Like if I could just generate enough of it, things would feel more settled.” I knew exactly […]
I grew up in a home with a you-earn-what-you-get kind of system. Chores had a chart. Allowance followed completion. Privileges were tied to responsibility. It was a reasonable system that produced reasonably responsible kids. But Dad would often step in and offer an out for our full punishment if we did a certain level of […]
I wasn’t looking for God the summer I turned twenty-four. But God’s grace pursues us even when we’re not seeking it. I was looking for direction, for belonging, for something solid to stand on after living years feeling like each step I took was on wet sand. I had a somewhat vague faith, inherited from […]
Alongside this month’s posts, we considered all the ways many misunderstand mercy. When you hear that mercy never fails, you might believe it’s there to erase your mistakes. But there’s more. Some view it as a reward for remorse. As a reset button that cancels consequences. Maybe as something extended to people who have suffered […]
There’s a chapter of my story I don’t tell often. I’m not still ashamed of it, though, because I’ve genuinely made peace with it. It’s a fantastic story about mercy and second chances, but it involves other people whose privacy matters to me. And some stories aren’t entirely yours to tell even when they’re about […]
Eight years ago, a relationship that mattered deeply to me got fractured and couldn’t be repaired quickly. I had done everything I knew to do. Apologized, given space, prayed, waited, tried again. But nothing moved. The silence on the other end stayed silence, week after week. I had run completely out of next steps. That […]
For about eighteen months I carried a decision I had made. One I couldn’t undo, one that had affected people I loved, one that I had genuinely repented of and made as right as I possibly could. And I kept picking it back up anyway, putting guilt and grace in the wrong order. Not consciously, […]
There was a woman in my life a few years back who made it difficult to choose compassion over judgment when she spoke to me. She had a gift for saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment. I don’t believe she did it maliciously. She just had a consistency that made every interaction feel […]
Eight years ago, a close friend said something about me to someone else. Something that wasn’t true, that found its way back to me through the worst possible chain of people and in a season when I was already running low on reserves. Forgiving others was the last thing on my mind! I know she […]
I missed a deadline last spring. By four days. I had committed to the piece months earlier, for an editor I respected deeply. Unfortunately, I had let the chaos of a brutal homeschool project and three overlapping writing projects convince me I had more time than I did. And I thought I’d blown it. No […]
Sign up for the chance at FREE products and the opportunity to share your ideas with us. Also, receive nonprofit spotlights, first announcements of our latest word additions, and fun extras.
