It is difficult enough to face discouragement as an adult, but to watch a child suffering beneath the weight of disappointment or despair only compounds our own. Discouragement is a universal experience, and it surfaces from many scenarios. For a child, it might arrive through words from a peer, feelings of personal failure, a […]

  It is difficult to escape the discouragement of this unique holiday season. Many are grieving get-togethers that simply cannot take place. It goes against our human nature — us being created in the image of a relational God — to not gather with our loved ones. While we hope and pray ways are made […]

  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 […]

  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 day, that was Adam’s first full day […]

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 […]