If you’re like me, your calendar was hemorrhaging long before the holidays showed up. In fact, the pace we keep is a cultural phenomenon of sorts—one that most of us aren’t equipped to handle well. Our ever-present phones make us daily, instantaneously available to hundreds, even thousands, of people. Our “commuter-style community”—since friends and family… Read More Quiet, dear heart (God is with you)

I remember the first time I visited the White House. I admired it from behind its wrought-iron fence, a tourist with a camera. The second time, I visited at the invitation of a congressman’s wife, who gave me a private tour. On my third visit, I was escorted by my lifelong friend, Karen, who was… Read More Suffering’s Invitation

At the risk of sounding morbid—I hope I’m buried with this Love List someday. I was 20 years old when I compiled this collection of God’s promises, and I’ve returned to it time and again in the two decades since. Its truths have held me through life’s best and worst. The world says, “Love yourself.”… Read More Love List

Summer is an odd duck. School lets out, Instagram becomes a film reel of beach days and vacas, and by July 31st Halloween paraphernalia is holding stores hostage. Between June and August I’m never quite sure if I’m winding down or revving up. These hot months fly fast, so before they’re gone may I ask… Read More This summer–complain, weep, wonder, worship.

I’m not sure where the idea of a harps-and-clouds heaven came from, but it’s as far from the truth as we could get. The God of eternity, and his new heavens and new earth, are so fantastical that the apostle John in his book of Revelation didn’t have a vocabulary for what he saw—so he… Read More Imagine this….