Category: Life of Faith
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Give Me Good News
“I have good news,” I mumbled to my husband through a sore throat and congestion. “Give me good news,” was what he heard. It was a random Monday afternoon. We laughed. And then we thought about it. Is asking a fellow believer to give you good news such a strange request? We are to… These…
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A Hopeful Habit When Your Future Is Hard to Predict
I ordered a new wall calendar out of habit. But when I opened it to begin filling in plans, I realized…I had only one. Surgery. After that, only rough guesses, and they differ by doctor. The circumstances leading to surgery might resolve, they might not. Recovery might be steady and sort-of quick, or it might…
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2025 Good List
Another year, another list of some good gifts I’ve been grateful for over the past 365 days… Thank you, Lord! What’s on your 2025 good list?
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A Ramp Out of the Worry Rut
I always chuckled at the homemade turn lanes… Two solitary, stick-straight country roads criss-crossed at perfect 90-degree angles. But over the years, locals decided they didn’t want to make such a decisive turn at the quiet intersection. They made a more leisurely turn over the grass instead. They did it so often that the grass…
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On Being Weak Well
“In sickness and in health” was part of our relationship before we ever said our vows. When Matt and I met, he had already been diagnosed with a couple of chronic illnesses. Although I lived with chronic pain, his challenges were much more significant. We knew from the start that our lifestyle would be shaped…
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Forever New
I love our Easter traditions. We decorate cookies while watching a movie that points to God’s mercy, like the 10 Commandments or The Case For Christ. Matt gives me Cadbury Caramel Eggs. We sing the same songs annually, like In Christ Alone and Up From the Grave. We read the same passages of God’s Word….
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No More Wincing
Sometimes suffering involves less weeping than wincing. When we love someone who never quite crosses the line to push us away completely, but is unkind enough, often enough, that we never get close. When we face many little health challenges that don’t warrant visits with specialists and intense intervention, but ensure we’re always well-stocked with…
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2023 Good List
2023 was a bit of a wild ride, but there’s a lot on my good list. I could have kept going, but here are some good gifts and joys from this year. (Thank you, Lord!) 2023 Good List -Matt’s persistent patience -Seeing the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce + the Hoover Dam -All the prayers and…
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From, Through, For (And what happens when we emphasize one over the others)
Romans 11:36 is one of those verses I come back to over and over again: “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” The verse is nestled between the first part of Romans, which focuses on who our sovereign God is and what He’s…
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The Worst Thing
To fight fear, my mind usually goes to the greatest extreme. What’s the worst that could happen? I go there mentally and play it all out. For many years, I’d wind up creating contingency plans and embracing unhealthy coping mechanisms for my worrying. The “fear-fighting” would end with me feeling the desperation of everything depending…