I sat across the table from a broken friend. Her life was scattered on the coffee shop floor like spilled grounds from the bean machine. Melissa (not her real name) had had an affair, and she finally mustered up the courage to tell me the truth. I knew about some of it, but not all of it. The new details were shocking. Read more…
The Step We Trip On
It was a Saturday college football game and I was doing what I like doing best—not watching the game but observing people. My seat was on the end of a long row of Carolina blue bleachers, and a steady flow of fans walked up and down the concrete steps. After a while, I noticed that four out of five people walking up the stands tripped on the step right in front of me. Read more…
The Scab You Won’t Stop Picking
I wonder if you’ve ever had hurt that just wouldn’t heal. I know I have. In today’s post, I’m talking to both of us. Maybe, just maybe, there is something we can do, or rather stop doing, to help the process.
Five-year-old Brooke was sitting in the backseat of the minivan while her mom and I ran errands. Read more…
Second Chances
Aren’t you glad that God gives us second chances…and third…and fourth…and…
Perhaps one of the most memorable and heart-touching stories of grace and forgiveness is recorded in Luke 15. It’s what we’ve come to know as the Story of the Prodigal Son. This young man demanded his inheritance while his father was still alive, spent it all on riotous living, Read more…
How Long Am I Going To Stay Mad About It?
Today, let’s talk about getting mad. If you’ve never been mad at anybody, you can stop reading now.
Since you’re still here, I’m thinking you’ve been mad a time or two yourself. So let’s keep reading…
I was really upset with her. I don’t need to tell you the details because I want you to fill in the blanks yourself. Read more…
When You Need a Little G-R-A-C-E
There it was.
Carved in wood.
The evidence could not be denied.
My niece, Anna, dropped her kids off at school and then went home to clean up a bit. She removed a hairbrush, school papers, and yesterday’s jewelry from her dresser. And there it was. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
A nail. Read more…
How Can I Forgive and Forget?
We hear the term, forgive and forget, but how can we forget? Don’t you wish there was a delete button for our brains?
There was a world of hurt in my family growing up. When I became a Christian, there was a world of forgiveness that needed to take place. It took me some time, but I eventually forgave my dad for all the things he did. Read more…
God’s Always Working
Have you ever wondered where God was when your life was falling apart? Oh friend, let me assure you, He is always working behind the scenes. Just because we can’t see that He’s working, doesn’t mean that He isn’t.
I remember when I met my husband at a college Bible study while we were in college. There he sat with the sleeves of his red flannel shirt rolled up over muscled biceps. Read more…
Healing When Your Heart Has Been Rubbed Raw
One day I received an e-mail from a woman who was still bitter over a statement her husband made to her cousin ten years ago. She and her husband were preparing to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary, and she was dreading it because of his careless words a decade before. She wrote, “Please pray that God mends this title [sic] piece of my heart that has fallen to the ground.”
The word title was a typo—she meant to type little. Read more…
The Scab You Won’t Stop Picking
I wonder if you’ve ever had hurt that just wouldn’t heal. I know I have. In today’s post, I’m talking to both of us. Maybe, just maybe, there is something we can do, or rather stop doing, to help the process.
Five-year-old Brooke was sitting in the backseat of a minivan while her mom and I ran errands. Read more…