“Grammy, who are you talking to?” Our little grandson, sitting in the back seat of the car while I drove to the store caught me. I talk to myself…

The word “steadfast”, interpreted “stayed” in the ESV version of Isaiah 26:3, is from a term that means “to lean, to rest, to support.” Someone who is steadfast is steady because she is leaning on something that is…

Our world longs for peace, yet it alludes nations. Our hearts are restless and many people reveal how “peace-less” they are by their critical and…

Allow the grief of David the father to capture your heart. This is the man who wrote Psalm 62, the Only Psalm, in response to this great betrayal and heartbreak…

Tradition tells us that David wrote Psalm 62 in the middle of devastating heartbreak. His son, Absalom, rebelled against his father, plotting to take his throne. When David turned to trusted friends for help, he learned…

David understood the way the earth can shift unexpectedly, in ways he never imagined possible. David’s story helps encourage and enable us to walk a steady path in our own shifting worlds…

Some people who love me questioned why I put myself through such an emotional ringer in order to write Treasures in Darkness. My theology compels me to lean into the pain in order to offer help and…

Many times I had to force myself to stop crying so that I could keep writing, not just because of the memory of God’s sweet love but also as I stepped back into those early years of grief. I sometimes cried…

Sometimes all we can see is the crisis at hand. We pray for relief and often miss the treasures in the darkness God sends to help turn our hearts toward Him…

Just when we thought it was safe to relax and revel in the birth of our little grandbabies, death knocked on our door. Late at night, Heidi called for us to come stay with their children while Greg and she rushed to the hospital…

Some of the most tender and intimate moments Chuck and I have experienced happen when we are the most broken by life. Such times are opportunities to remove any pretense, tear off masks and…

The day I put my final manuscript for Treasures in Darkness in the mail, I reviewed the context of my life in which I wrote the book. I realized while the earth shifted beneath my feet, God held me steady through chaotic circumstances…

I was 18-years-old and thought I was in love. My boyfriend was deployed to Germany and when he came home in December…

You are a star! You were made to shine like the brightest light in the heavens. News flash, the brilliance is not about you! God created stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:16). A star is an internal collision of hydrogen and helium atoms. This powerful impact…

Fear and wisdom may seem like unlikely companions. Solomon and I would beg to differ. The convergence of these two things has happened in my life many times. The Lord has been showing me in those moments that I have a shallow understanding of them. Several years ago, I had to make a very big decision in…

You are a star! You were made to shine like the brightest light in the heavens. News flash, the brilliance is not about you! God created stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:16). A star is an internal collision of hydrogen and helium atoms. This powerful impact…

When our children were little we let them make a list of all the places they would love to visit should the Lord allow. It was a big list and we lived on a small pastor’s salary. Providentially, the Lord has actually allowed them to travel…

You are a star! You were made to shine like the brightest light in the heavens. News flash, the brilliance is not about you! God created stars on the fourth day (Genesis 1:16). A star is an internal collision of hydrogen and helium atoms. This powerful impact…

I love spending time with young moms. Recently I went to breakfast with an expectant mother. She began to tell me about all the books she had been reading in preparation for the baby’s arrival. “Do you think you are ready?” I sheepishly…

Is that three-year-old you’re trying to “lead” driving you crazy? How about the outside the box student in your eighth grade class, or the employee who…