life. faithful.

 I was listening to Alistair Begg and he said that so often we say that we believe God is in control and will work everything out--but the problem is, we want and expect Him to work those things out the way we want, when we want. So often, we quote Romans 8:28 almost as some sort of incantation that will take any bad thing in our life and turn it into something good. But I would like to propose an uncomfortable idea--that might be a misreading. " And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (NKJV) What if the main focus of that verse isn't actually the "work together for good to those who love God", but instead is the "according to His purpose"? We talk about the sovereignty of God, but so many times I think we still try to put limits on what that means. When good things happen, we praise God and thank Him for His gifts. When we are faced with hard times, we pray and a...

This upcoming weekend is a strange one. Like everyone else, I view Memorial Day weekend as the start of summer. It's a time for grilling out, spending time with friends and family, swimming (if you don't mind the water still being pretty cool), and sunshine. For the last 20 years, though, it's also been a day of remembrance. It's the day that reminds me of my brother's sacrifice in Najaf, Iraq, when he gave his life to protect freedom. It's the day I'm reminded of so many loved ones who chose honor and sacrifice over ease and peace. So as you enjoy your weekend, I would ask you to take just a minute to honor those who gave their all...and remember those who love them. I've posted this before, but it's been a long time. I can't tell you when I wrote this, and I'm not much of a poet. Despite that, in these words you get a tiny glimpse of the relationship I shared with my brother...and why he is still so missed. ***  You taught me to be strong ...

I was at our kids' athletic banquet the other night when a fellow mom of a senior asked me if I cried when my first graduated last year. I'm guessing she had noticed that I wasn't getting teary at our son's last athletic banquet, and that I had nothing but smiles the night before at his graduation. The short answer I gave her was that I'm really not a very emotional person (though it's more accurate to say that I don't let people see my emotions...). If I'm being honest, though? The idea of my kids graduating doesn't make me sad. Sure, there are lots of things I miss about my kids being younger. And when my daughter moved out for college, it was strange not to have her there at home every day. I'm sure the same will be true of my son when he heads to college in the fall. But if I'm honest? I'm not sad about my kids graduating high school. I'm excited about them growing up, moving on to the next phase of life as they make their way int...