Grace that Transforms Isn’t a One-Time Limited Gift

GRACE got under my skin this month faster than most. Maybe because the rescue part is so specific. Not improvement. Not assistance. Rescue. That implies something that couldn’t get out on its own, and someone who came anyway, at whatever cost it took to reach it. If you don’t feel the grace that transforms you […]
The High Challenge of Living by Grace

For a long time, my relationship with grace had a timestamp on it. Living by grace was the thing that had happened. Past tense, settled. Filed under that Sunday morning when my life took a different course. I was grateful for it. I referenced it. And, I would have defended it theologically without hesitation. I […]
How Grace and Transformation Create Strong Results

A reader reached out last spring with a message that resonated with me. As I read her note, I related to her words. When I took the time to reflect on them, I realized the importance of fully embracing both grace and transformation in your daily walk with Christ. She said she’d been a Christian […]
The Remarkable Thing About Grace in Weakness
Two winters ago, I attempted to hold the household together while running on fumes and sheer stubbornness. Through content production, meeting deadlines, a new business launch, and homeschooling my kids. Talk about grace in weakness. I had nothing left. From the outside everything looked functional. On the inside I was operating somewhere well below empty, […]
Why Unearned Grace Is the Hardest Gift to Receive

The year I turned thirty-two, I experienced a bit of unearned grace first-hand. I made a decision that cost someone I loved dearly. Not intentionally, though. But the damage was real regardless of what I had meant. I apologized and made what restitution I could. The person forgave me, genuinely and without conditions, and told […]
The Surprising Way Grace and Faith Actually Work Together

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 […]
What the Free Gift of Being Saved by Grace Cost

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 […]
The Stunning Reality That God’s Grace Pursues Us First

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 […]
Loving the Difficult People

We all deal with difficult people—at work, at home, even at church. Whether it’s the chronic complainer, the passive-aggressive texter or social media commenter, or the person who just won’t let things go, these relationships test our patience and stretch our grace. What if these hard interactions weren’t just obstacles, but opportunities? Maybe they cross […]