Category: Faith
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Because it’s Valentine’s Day: 5 Tidbits for Marriage
When my husband, Manny, and I started dating he was 19 and I was newly 21. 14 months later we were engaged, and 9 months after that we were married and starting our lives together. There were some naysayers, of course, but we knew that God had brought us together…
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Advent Week 4: Living a Life of Worship
Growing up, my grandparents had this framed poster in their house that said “Take your everyday ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life- and place it before God as an offering.” Now I know this is Romans 12:1-2 from “The Message” translation of the bible, but…
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Advent Week 3: Go Tell it on Your Mountain
When I was in high school, my parents took some youth to Yosemite to hike half dome. We had to get up super early to hike up to the base, and then we had to climb “the cables.” It is always windy up there, and hard to keep your footing…
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Advent Week 2: Prepare to Be Unprepared
I love to be prepared. I love starting the day with a clear schedule and a clear idea of what I need to pack. I love being at the playground with my kids and one runs up and says “Did you bring that completely nonessential item that I asked you…
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Advent Week 1: What Are We Waiting For?
My oldest daughter loves routine. She loves schedules, and having plans. She needs to know what’s going to happen and when. Every morning she wakes up and looks at our calendar in the kitchen; she probably knows our schedule better than I do. A few weeks ago, she received an…
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Caring for Those with Mental Illness: Just Love
Anxiety is real. Depression won’t simply be prayed away. Mental illness is everywhere, and it cannot be ignored. We, as followers of Christ, need to do a better job. How can we care for them? What is our place in their recovery? And how can we act like we have…
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The Purpose of Community: To Hold up Our Hands When We Can’t
“As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to…
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Worthy of Our Yes: Balancing Ministry and Family
“We’re busy reassuring one another that God wants us to do what’s safest for our families and to pursue God in a way that looks suspiciously similar to what we’d naturally do if our only concern was our own comfort and happiness.” -Letters to the Church, Francis Chan I am…
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Do Not Be Afraid: God Is With You
My junior year of college was one of my best years of college, I started dating my now husband, ran a personal best in the 5k and the steeplechase, and had a poem published in the college’s journal. Those things were great, but in the midst of those wonderful things…
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Leaving the 99: Evangelism Over Comfort
In 2010, 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground for 69 days after the mine caved in on them. One young man, Jose Henriquez later deemed “the Pastor,” was not a pastor by trade, but his outward faith in God during this time led 22 of the 33 miners to make…
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