life. faithful.

Religion and politics--the two things we're never supposed to talk about, right? Thankfully, I was blessed to grow up in a family where both were talked about with equal fervor. One is a given, seeing as how I've spent the majority of my life with a pastor for a dad and mom who has always led children's ministry. Faith was never something reserved for Sundays. Lessons in morality and God's way vs. my way were a never ending (and admittedly for a teenager, somewhat annoying at times) part of everyday life. At the same time, I grew up in a family with a military background. That means politics were never a taboo subject, though the same thing applies to those discussions being annoying to a teenage girl at times. I can remember one conversation between Pop and Michael when they were talking politics that eventually turned into a discussion about what Michael would do if he were in charge. Pop has always had a bit of a habit of playing devil's advocate, and by the e

I got an email the other day that opened with these words: "Eighty percent of college students reported the COVID-19 crisis has had a negative effect on their mental health and one-fifth say it has significantly worsened, according to a survey conducted by Active Minds in April." (Higher Ed Hot Topics newsletter) My first reaction was surprise. 80%? That sounds absolutely crazy. How can that possibly be true? The surprise changed to sadness pretty quickly, though, because I spent a lot of years in college. I understand the stress of classes, and I understand the added stress of all the other stuff in life that looms over you, a massive dark cloud at times that makes it nearly impossible to focus on studying. In the midst of all that, it would be incredibly easy to give in to despair and overwhelming anxiety. But God. When I was in college, there were many times when the pressure got to me. It was easy to start spiraling down into that sea of dark hopelessness...but

We're going to pick up right where we left off last time--the seventh seal was opened, and silence filled heaven for half an hour. Although we're not told exactly why all of heaven was silent, I think it was probably a moment of grief for what is to follow: the seven trumpets. Thunder, rumblings, lightning, and an earthquake start things off, then the first angel sounds his trumpet. We're told that hail and fire mixed with blood is cast down to earth, and 1/3 of the land is set on fire. It burs up 1/3 of the trees and scorches all the green grass. If all the horrors that came before weren't enough, you would think that this would get people's attention. The second trumpet sounds, and a burning mountain is cast into the sea. It kills 1/3 of everything in the ocean, including wiping out 1/3 of the ships, and turns 1/3 of the water to blood. Taken with the first, it leads me to wonder about the possibility of an asteroid striking the earth. The third trumpet

We've got a lot going on in our life right now (things I'll go into in more detail later), big changes that are setting our path for the future. And as always seems to be the case, we've got stuff piling up. The last few days have been trying for our family--capped by my niece getting injured in a freak accident with a barn door. I went to bed last night quite simply worn down. My mind was racing with a hundred different things and I really can't tell you how many times I woke up through the night. But then came the morning. One of the things that had gotten piled on was minor, especially in the face of everything else, but it definitely felt like a big deal. Our dryer simply stopped working yesterday. No light inside, no attempt to start when I pushed the button (no matter the setting), no breaker tripped--just nothing. Not a huge thing in the grand scheme of things, but a sizable frustration and inconvenience when it was the proverbial "straw that broke the

Michael, This isn't a letter I ever imagined I would need to write. One of the SEALS who took part in the mission that killed Bin Laden summed up what's going on in our country right now when he said this: "I cannot believe I fought to defend you." I never thought I would see what I'm seeing right now in the country so many in our family have fought to defend--the country you died to defend. There is so much division right now, and it's promoted and encouraged by those who claim to be serving the people. Everything has been turned into some sort of "us versus them" situation, no matter what. But the crazy thing? People don't seem to realize that the "us" in this picture should be the American people, and the "them" should be all those who are determined to see this country fall. Those who have been elected to office across this nation have somehow managed to convince people that the values which have always de