I had a recent day when the world’s weight bore heavy and threatened to pull me under. I work as a teacher. I’ve loved teaching others how to sing and make music with their God-given instrument. In one of my research studies, a child called teaching “helping.” Yes, I’ve always Read more
Are you waiting for things to improve, hoping for things to become easier? Sometimes, it’s years of waiting. Sometimes, things don’t get better or easier, but worse and harder. What do we do then? What if…our waiting lasts a lifetime? Psalm 69 gives us the words to pray in the Read more
Merry Christmas, dear friends! Some of you have written to tell me you’re singing “O Holy Night” daily, even though it’s a challenging song to sing! You know, the Lord delights to hear us sing even if we don’t like how we sound. In Song of Solomon 2:14 (ESV), He says, Read more
The pandemic canceled our entire summer’s travel plans, so my husband and I decided to plant a vegetable garden for the first time. Honestly, we needed a positive home project as we grieved heavy losses of not meeting our newborn grandson, not seeing our kids and grandchildren, and missing our Read more
We sing this hymn at Thanksgiving, but what if the words feel inauthentic to you this Thanksgiving? Do you ever have running thoughts like these when you sing? Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; Lord, I’m not feeling thankful today, at least not thankful enough to Read more
David was in trouble. In Psalm 55, He cried out to the Lord, complaining honestly about his upsetting situation. He lamented, moaned, got it all out there as He prayed. He was hurt, burdened, and filled with anxiety. Can you relate? I sure can. As my students often say, “The Read more
I detest being in conflict. Relational conflict keeps me up at night. I run past conversations on repeat in my mind, ruminate on words I might say tomorrow, and kick myself with guilt for what I did or didn’t say today. When someone disagrees with me, my knee-jerk response is to Read more
I felt anything but a healing peace in my problems. I was “wearied by the length of [my] way” (Is. 57:10 ESV) and I felt down, low, and weak. My frustration and anxiety over unwanted problems produced exhaustion. No wonder I felt no peace. I needed to look away from my desperate Read more
Going back to school in a pandemic brings up all the feels, doesn’t it? Uncertain, weary, sad, hopeful, scared, excited, overwhelmed…simultaneously. We bravely want to transition well for our kids and health of all. On top of this, we continue to live with our financial, relational, and health challenges. We Read more
We’re living in masks, hiding, covering up, protecting ourselves and others from an unseen virus. Emotions are running high. But what infects us from day one? Our inborn sin pervades everything (Rom. 5:12). No wonder our fallen world is infected with a pandemic and chaos. We wear masks with each Read more
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