Sometimes I wonder if we’re waiting for God to change something He may actually be asking us to practice. We say we want a deeper relationship with Him, but can any relationship grow if we only give it whatever time and attention we have left over? Spiritual growth isn’t something we can simply want. At…
We made it through another summer. Technically. The calendar says September, Starbucks says fall, college football says fall, but a large portion of America is still sweating through a shirt while carrying a pumpkin-spice drink. Starbucks brought the PSL back on August 25, so apparently seasons are now determined by beverage marketing rather than the…
Friday has a wonderful way of lowering the standards we confidently established on Monday. Monday-you had goals. Meal prep. Exercise. Meaningful family time. Prayer before checking your phone. Friday-you is standing in front of the refrigerator at 6:17 p.m. wondering whether shredded cheese, grapes and half a rotisserie chicken technically qualify as dinner. And maybe…
Here are 10 Idea Starters for the last week of August that go beyond the obvious “Are you ready for fall?” stuff and could actually generate stories: What did you think you were going to accomplish this summer that absolutely did not happen? And are you disappointed - or have you decided it probably never…
By Wednesday, the goals we had for the week have usually been adjusted to reflect current market conditions. Monday morning: This is the week I’m going to exercise, eat better, stay ahead of my email and spend meaningful time with God. Wednesday: I found my Bible under the mail and ate a banana in the…
Idea Starters Where’s the line between being responsible and trying to control everything?How do you know when you've done what you can and it's time to trust God with what happens next? What are you carrying right now that probably isn't actually yours to carry?Your kid's choices? Someone else's opinion? A future problem? An outcome…
Control, schedule, peace and focus. Here's some idea starters related to faith. Maybe God is not asking you to control the season Proverbs 3:5–6 talks about trusting God rather than leaning completely on our own understanding. That lands differently in parenting. Because parenting makes you want guarantees. Good friends. Safe choices. Strong faith. Healthy relationships.…
The emotional temperature: Summer has lost custody of the family calendar. This is the week where August stops pretending it’s summer. The pool is still open. It’s still 100 degrees in parts of the country. The steering wheel is still legally classified as a cooking surface. But emotionally? We are in September. Most families are either…
Jesus does not ask you to live the whole semester today Matthew 6:34 is brutally practical: tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. We often call it planning when what we are really doing is mentally experiencing every possible future disaster in advance. What if you did not need enough strength for October? What if…
America is having two completely different Augusts! This is the week when half the country is already deep enough into school to have lost a water bottle, forgotten a password and discovered the first group-project crisis, while the other half is still technically on summer vacation and refusing to acknowledge the backpack sitting ominously in the…