It was the last day with my class that I had had for the whole year. We were out on the playground, enjoying the nice weather, when one of the little girls became so intent on getting up the ladder to the slide first that her sweet, innocent face contorted into a hideous expression of … Continue reading The Link between Discouragement and Motive
Some of my first memories of emptiness are from the Christmases of my childhood. It was after the last gifts had been opened and the beautiful wrapping lay crumpled and discarded all across the floor that the hollowness would creep across my heart like a very dark shadow. The weeks of festive anticipation came to … Continue reading My Christmas Journey from Emptiness to Joy
 There is a tree I love that stands next to the preschool where I teach, and though I rarely get a chance to look at it for long, I always enjoy a passing glance on my way into the chaos each morning or as I herd my group of three-year-olds up the hill to … Continue reading Deferred Hopes and Trees of Life
Some time ago, I was reading Psalm 29 and became enamored with the sheer magnitude of God’s power. With His voice alone, He “breaks the cedars,” “flashes forth flames of fire,” “shakes the wilderness,” “makes the deer give birth,” and “strips the forest bare.” And according to the Creation account in Genesis, God simply spoke, … Continue reading Thoughts on the Words of God
What if I told you about a country that executed thousands of its citizens every day? What if none of those citizens had committed a single crime? What if the facts didn’t matter because they had no rights to a trial? What if I told you that those citizens were the poorest, the weakest, the … Continue reading Choices
I think we can all agree that 2020 hasn’t turned out to be the year we thought it would be. Who would have dreamed at the beginning of the year that so much would change? Even though I had heard of Covid-19 back in January, I never imagined how much it would affect our country. … Continue reading Coronavirus, Uncertainty, and Hope
“What is this I’ve heard about you—stepping down? I’m surprised. You know You have the best position around—unparalleled prestige and all the benefits anyone could ever want. Please tell me you won’t give that up. Think of your potential, your gifts. You are more talented than anyone I know. It wouldn’t be right to let … Continue reading Advice
Whenever God works in our fallen world, there is friction, and when He works in us, we are the ones who feel the heat. It can be excruciating at times, so much so that we often don’t have the heart to keep going. The aching weight of life is too much for our fragile hands … Continue reading Blessing
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in my dorm. Many of the other girls from my dorm—including all three of my roommates—were at a fine arts event on campus. I was lying on my bunk bed, suffering from a cold. That’s when I heard the noise. To this day, I’m not exactly sure what the … Continue reading Fear and the Christian
Amy Carmichael wrote, “If by doing some work which the undiscerning consider ‘not spiritual work’ I can best help others, and I inwardly rebel, thinking it is the spiritual for which I crave, when in truth it is the interesting and exciting, then I know nothing of Calvary love.” Through interning at the … Continue reading Living Fully Where God Puts Us
Gratefully His 