Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. So much so, that a few years ago we decided to turn October 31st into Christmas Cheer Day and usher in everything Christmas with our homemade holiday. My iPod is emptied of all the regular music and replaced with Christmas tunes, decorations are pulled from the garage to transform our home from everyday to holiday and, while others are waiting for nighttime to fall for trick-or-treating, we gather to sing Christmas carols, delight in past Christmas memories, talk of new ones to come, light apple cinnamon candles, participate in whatever Christmas crafts strike our fancy that year, and close the day with laughter as we cozy up to a movie we can ...

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Romans 14:19 It took only minutes for the bitterness, anger and resentment to take hold of my heart after reading that email. For two years she has been the center of too many disagreements, which have lead to just as many fights. The topic of too many discussions. The focus of too much of our time. The reason we shake our heads in utter amazement. And the cause of much of our parental anxiety over decisions we just can't understand. This was the last bit of everything disrespectful and hypocritical that I could take, and I boiled over. The topic of that email is not important [in the ...

On a Friday morning, just over a week ago, I woke up in my new home two days earlier than I had anticipated. The ‘Fios Guy’ was coming and we had moved enough of our things to allow the kids and I to sleep over. The alarm clock was set for 7:30 but my eyes opened at 7:15 and I decided I’d rather get up on my own than to wait for that sound. I slipped out of the playroom where the kids were still asleep, made my way into my kitchen and kicked myself for bringing the coffee maker but forgetting the coffee. I guess my brain and body were so tired the night before that even when I made a quick trip to the grocery store for essentials I forgot the one ingredient that is necessary when ...

God brought some incredible revelation to me during my second go-round at Gateway’s Kairos a little over a month ago. He had very specific issues He wanted to target, and throughout the three days I was there, those areas were made abundantly clear. One of the rotten pieces of fruit on my heart tree that God has been trying to prune for quite a long time is gossip. Yep, that little ‘g’ word that doesn’t seem so ugly or sinful when we choose to use another moniker instead, like…oh, ‘sharing’. Kind of the same way we make lying sound less harsh by using the term ‘fib’. During a time of corporate prayer at Kairos, we were asked to turn to a page in our binders where a ...

“Can we talk?” Those words were a common starting point in the comedy routines of Joan Rivers. Am I dating myself by using her as a reference? It’s not that I vividly remember watching any of her shows when I was growing up, but somehow, somewhere in my memory’s file-o-fax, this line is written down. A couple weeks ago, as I was sitting on my backyard swing spending time with Jesus, a question very similar to this one was asked of me, but with a noticeable change…“Can we be real?” These four words played themselves through my mind, over and over again, with the emphasis moving from word to word. It’s amazing how a question’s intent can change dramatically when the ...

God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren't heard, their voices aren't recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome! The morning sun's a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The day breaking sun an athlete racing to the tape. That's how God's Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith. Psalm 19:1-6 [The Message] On a glorious morning back in May, I trekked out to our local Kroger at 10am ...