Perhaps you, like so many, feel the hard-pressed nature of focusing on Advent this Christmas season. Events of this year have caused a refraction of attention — redirecting our thoughts to immediate, pressing circumstances. We find it difficult to be still and think back on the manger scene. It is a challenge to slow […]

  Thanksgiving acts as a dog-ear between the bookends of a year. A page bent over to signal a pause — wait here, linger, give thanks. Each year as the weather brings a chill, the trees outside cling to final, drooping leaves, and holiday music begins filling the supermarkets, there is a change inside of […]

Enjoy a Peaceful Evening Listening to Scripture Lullabies God created us for rest. All throughout Scripture we can see this theme. It is an invitation to regularly return to His respite and restoration. From the very first day of the very first human, God created a pattern of rest. While God rested on the seventh […]

Our kids have had to adapt to new ways of education this year. And yet, new challenges often present fertile ground for growth. With our children spending more time at home, we can grasp those windows of opportunity to consistently share God’s Word together. Here are five creative ideas for including biblical teaching in your […]

  Each of us has different thoughts and feelings as we approach an election. At times, it is hard to discern the information we’re being fed, and it’s difficult to sift through facts, opinions, and agendas. But one thing is for certain: our ultimate leader — our almighty God — is still in control, and […]

  On every side we are bombarded with reminders of the broken world we live in. We walk through our days longing for assurance, desperate to know we are secure, safe, and that no evil or tragedy will strike. Yet that is not the world we live in. And as we grapple with this existence, […]

  Fear has a personal way about it. It wraps itself around us, entwining with our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs — distorting what we know to be true. It encroaches on our identities. Before we are aware of it, fear has so permeated our lives to a point where it feels as though it has […]

  While all of us have had different thoughts, feelings, responses, and reactions to events this year, there is something universal among parents and caregivers this fall: the kids we love are heading into an uncertain school year. There is also a shared desire in our hearts to see our children thrive spiritually, physically, and […]

  Have you ever witnessed the aftermath of a forest fire? Black, chalky tree trunks lay felled across the scorched forest. Maybe you have observed the actual devouring — flames reaching toward the sky, changing colors as they travel across the varying landscape, fuel for the fire charging from brush to tree. It is heart […]