Archives

  • Confessions of a guy who married his high school sweetheart

    I’ll never forget standing outside of church with the boys one Sunday afternoon when we started talking about girls. We began listing what our “dream girl” would be like. There were three things that I said,  “I want her to be short (because I’m ridiculously tall), I want her to love Jesus and I want […]

  • Where God leads, I will follow

    “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose part of your body and live forever than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns forever.”  Matthew 18:8 Here lately I have been […]

  • How to do friendship with men

    Some of the best friendships of my life have been with men. I think of Paul who invited me to share his church offices when I first set out to plant my church. We met as students in one of our Masters classes. He was the short geeky one; funny, well-loved and smart. Half a decade […]

  • Life Giving Relationships

    “She’s changed,” they said. “She’s not who she once was.” I’m sure, like you I have heard this said maybe once, twice or many times before but if I was to be honest with you I actually really, really like it. None of us are who we once were and often it’s easier to accept […]

  • Green Eyed Monster: Jealousy

    The surprise must have registered on my face as I opened the front door to the unexpected visitor. Miri* stood there, small and demure, nervous and unsure. It was a cool day and we had not lit the fire inside the house, but it was warm on the front veranda in the sunshine. I invited […]

  • Is it fair?

    Most of us had finished our plate of lasagna, but while my son was still using his fingers to pick out only the noodles, I told my six-year-old daughter that she needed to go upstairs to pick up her room. She melted and cried, “But that’s not FAAAAAAIIIIR!” What a beautiful thing God gave us, […]

  • 4 Biblical Strategies for Honoring Your in-laws

    You’re probably familiar with Exodus 20:12 –“honor your father and mother”. While fumbling over “Nan-uh, Mrs., uh, Mom?” it isn’t always obvious that this command applies to your relationship with your in laws too. According to the current stereotype, in laws are common household enemies. There’s even the popular mantra that “you don’t just marry […]

  • The road of singleness

    Yes, it’s true I’m still young, just barely 21 to be exact. You may think I have no business writing on this subject. You may just be plain sick of the topic in general. Perhaps you feel like you’ve heard all there is to hear on singleness. I won’t even try to pretend I have […]

  • Because he’s the one with the problem!

    Counseling sessions with my husband always started out the same. On the drive there I would envision the therapist agreeing that I was right and that my husband needed to change. It would surely be a life-changing hour for him. But the counseling sessions always ended the same. Half way through after being shocked that […]

  • When your marriage isn’t what you thought it would be…

    Marriage isn’t what you see in the movies. Or on television. Marriage isn’t what you hear about in the songs. It doesn’t look like the marriages of the rich and famous. It isn’t what you dreamed of before you were…married. Shouldn’t I feel different in my marriage? Shouldn’t we be different together? No one told […]