Whether I’m in class, in chapel, reading a book, or listening to a speaker, I want to always be seeking spiritual growth; I want to look at every opportunity as a chance to meet God at a level I have never known before. I want to worship like the Catholics do – in a field with hundreds of believers united in silence; I want to listen to His wisdom with the Methodists – gathered together in a convention center listening to a favored author; I want sing with worship teams of all … [Read more...]

The time of day that is my favorite is early morning before anyone else is up. That's the time I like to spend reading my devotions, the Bible and talking with the Lord. One morning in particular, I got up, made some coffee, sat down in the chair and cracked open my Bible and my devotional. The next thing that happened was quite interesting. I started reading my devotion and the strangest sound came out of my mouth. I was a little surprised because it was so unexpected. I shook it off and … [Read more...]

Then: Noah and me on Chicago's Navy Pier, summer 2009. Photo by Matthew Cowan. My son recently turned 4. So did I. Noah's birth was my rebirth. I awakened to the glorious, to the awful. To the sweeping power of a God who saves, redeems, loves. For awhile I mourned the death of my old self. Had life gone according to my plan, all would've stayed snugly similar, with the exception of a baby. I would take a few weeks off, get a nanny, and return to my freelancing career as soon as possible. I … [Read more...]

I was planning on going to the movies the other night and then it happened. All parents sense it, that feeling you get early on in the day when you just have an inkling that the plans you had for later just might not happen. We had all just survived the flu bug and I figured I was good to go so I contacted my buddy to go see a flick. But there it was, the ear scratching, I tried to convince myself that it was just part of a cold. There was no fever no cough, really no other signs that he was … [Read more...]

You don't want to do get stuck doing some dead end job, working in a cubicle, or any kind of unadventurous career. You want to be around awesome hip people who are artistic and liberal (not in the political sense, calm down), you want to LIVE. And you have decided that there is no life to be found in the normal, conventional way. Welcome to our whole generation. Welcome to a group of people who want to be unique and want to be seen for their differences. They want to hang out. They want to … [Read more...]

The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say,'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.' Billy Graham About six years ago, I first began blogging. Within a few months, I stopped and never returned. There would be awkward moments when I'd be reminded that I had started a blog on a particular platform, but that was no motivation to begin writing again. I began blogging because I had complaints and … [Read more...]

I generally don't watch a whole lot of television, but I happened to come across a show that was completely mocking Christians and talking about how boring they were. Then I thought to myself, do we really seem that unappealing to be deemed as boring? This made me go back an forth with myself because you have to be careful comparing your life to the world's standards because in that case, there is really nothing to compare, but for the sake of drawing unbelievers into the kingdom, let's examine … [Read more...]

When discussing creation vs. evolution, the following illustration can prove helpful. Consider this story: In the mid-1930?s, nature lover Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln, were hiking in the hills near Keystone, South Dakota. After entering a clearing, the two men discovered something extraordinary. The great rock formation in front of them had apparently been slowly weathered over thousands of years until coming to bear a remarkable resemblance to four previous American … [Read more...]

If you have boys (or a man) in your house, chances are that you are exposed to at least SOME sports news each week. This week the airwaves have been inundated with news of Lance Armstrong and his confession of having used performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France seven times. I am not a big cycling fan, and quite honestly I admired Lance Armstrong, not for his cycling abilities, but for what he has done to bring awareness and raise money to fund cancer research. Notice that I said … [Read more...]

One of my goals for the new year is to read more e-books. Not just books–stacks of them line my desk, nightstand, bathroom. I even borrow my children’s library books. Bedtime stories are balm to a mother’s day-worn soul. Holding books, seeing and smelling them; this is joy and comfort. My husband, technology consultant that he is, regularly reminds me: “Printed books are on their way out. You need to adapt.” I mostly disagree. The sliver of me that agrees bought Lysa TerKeurst’s … [Read more...]