Natasha Metzler 4 Minute Read There are so many stories. They pile up and run over and leave aching sorrow behind. And sometimes I think the hurt that grieves God the most is that which is inflicted by believers. We speak so rashly, words slashing and leaving bloodied hearts behind. We’re broken human beings, but unfortunately, some of us forget that truth…
Caroline Rose Sanders 6 Minute Read I had been called many things, but “traitor” had never been one of them. Until that day at the orphanage in Haiti when those hurting children took their anger out on me. I crawled crying into my parents’ bed that night and I remember them saying, “They probably don’t even know what that means.” And…
Elisabeth Adams 7 Minute Read Why do I love reading love stories that really happened? Is it the part of me that enjoys real butter, homemade bread, chicken soup from scratch . . . or the fact that a little suffering creates a great big desire for authenticity? Most of all, I think it’s the fact that true stories show…
Jeannie Pederson 7 Minute Read I have long wanted to be the parent who doesn’t just dole out punishments when my children disobey. My goal isn’t to produce a little army of “yes men” who blindly obey anyone in authority. I want to raise confident, competent adults who have the inner strength to honor God regardless of what the rest…
Hayley Novak 8 Minute Read Last week, tilted back in the dentist’s chair, unable to speak, I listened to the technician praise my kids. “They are amazing. I wish every kid was like your kids. They’re so good.” I couldn’t argue with her or let her know the true reality since I couldn’t talk, so I decided to just bask…
Callie Mitchell 8 Minute Read I am an architect, but I’m not. I am a missionary, but I’m not. Sound confusing? Maybe the confusion subsides when we embrace a view of vocation as separate from that of career — as something that far surpasses nine to five work hours, salaries and benefits, something that begins to describe the condition of…
Elisabeth Adams 6 Minute Read Your vocation: what is it? It isn’t exactly the same as your career or job, says Jeff Goins, though it may include them. Its scope is life-long: it is the theme you will return to again and again, however many times your specific job description might change. The fact that I’ve gone from teaching English abroad…
Hayley Novak 5 Minute Read I am watching my husband play basketball, sitting on metal bleachers in the YMCA gymnasium when I hear her calling my name; old enough in body to be my mother, young enough in mind to be my child. She looks up at me earnestly and we half-shout at each other to be heard above the…
Hayley Novak 6 Minute Read If I could write a letter to myself ten years younger, I wouldn’t write wistfully: you have zero gray hair! you aren’t yet jaded by burnout! you have so much enthusiasm! I know now how much joy will come wrapped up in the painful lessons of life and I will almost pity the shallow happiness…
Gretchen Louise 11 Minute Read Dear New Bride, Ten years ago, I was in your shoes. We were just back from our honeymoon, stepping into everyday life as husband and wife. We painted our walls and arranged our furniture (mostly bookshelves). We unpacked dishes and planted a tree (a red maple we’ve moved three times). And with each item I…
Jeannie Pederson 4 Minute Read My parents were not perfect parents. I am not a perfect parent. Every day that I parent, I am humbled as I face my own failures. Every day that I parent, I am more able to grant grace to my own parents for what I so often perceived as their failures. I was raised in…
Natasha Metzler 8 Minute Read I did not think of myself as someone who had it all together, but I suppose I came off as one who did. So many children had passed through my care that dozens of moms asked for input on parenting, never mind that I was a single, childless woman. After I married and infertility became…
The End.
The End.