Several years ago, I had a standoff with another mom in our homeschool co-op. Nothing dramatic. Just a scheduling disagreement that snowballed. Neither one of us viewed the situation with gratitude and unity in mind. She wanted Thursday mornings for her science block. I’d already requested that slot for my instruction time. Students would either […]
I don’t know about you, but I’ve walked past one verse a hundred times without putting it into practice. First Thessalonians 5:18: “…Giving thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I knew it by heart. I nodded at it in Bible studies. Once, I stuck it on my […]
I used to treat gratitude like a visitor. It showed up when life went well and left when things got hard. Living with gratitude as a discipline didn’t even cross my mind. Then one season, almost nothing went right. A writing project I’d poured months into fell through. A friend I counted on went cold […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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