“On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.” ― Michel de Montaigne Timothy Keller posted this on FB: “Real humility is shy.” I’ve been pondering that concept in relationship to the scared echo of pride awareness in my own life. Sadly, that deepest, darkest sin oozes through every other sin. […]
Hope
Noticing the Little Gifts of God
The Hanley family has talked for years about the fun memories made camping and how we want to carry that legacy on with our kids. After 14 years of marriage and several kids later, we finally said, “This is the year we vacation together.” Picking a spot somewhat in the middle, we scheduled our camping […]
Helping Your Kids Deal with Stress
Everyone’s heard of our natural response to stressful situations with the “fight or flight” mode. When our adrenal glands overwork, our liver dumps extra sugar into our system, the hormone epinephrine fuels the body, the heart rate accelerates and the lungs work harder (Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology). But what happens when we can’t […]
- Gratitude
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How to be Grateful When Life Grates
Have you ever been grating a vegetable or cheese and gotten slightly distracted for a split second? All of sudden, you feel the ripping pain as layers of skin are shredded along with your food, blood quickly appearing on the surface. You run to the cold water faucet and press against the wound with a […]
When Your Child Contemplates Death
In our house, death doesn’t stay in the taboo talk topics. Especially since my dad went Home to Jesus five years ago, the kids and I frequently discuss Heaven. Some people may assess our obsession as slightly morbid or imbalanced, but I think the opposite holds true. Losing sight of where we are going and […]
Inspiring Moments
This moment from the past may have occurred decades ago, but it still carries the power to inspire us today. No matter what, God can use you. You are wonderfully made. You can live with joy and gratitude and purpose. Failure might just be a stepping stone to greatest: […]
For Women: No, Really, It Is
At some point in the last decade, I woke up to a world gone mad. Dismissing the Creator years ago, moral standards progressed down the hill and all the way off the cliff. We’ve committed the ultimate hubris by rewriting marriage (from a God-designed covenant between a man and a woman to what it is […]
If You Put Your Mind to It…
“Left to my own direction, my heart is a compass that guides me toward passions and pleasures. But God is the true compass, guiding me along His ultimate path for me, changing my heart and renewing my mind in the process. My heart is a broken instrument, so how can I possibly trust its direction? […]
The Trap of Adolescent Thinking
Adolescence reaches further into childhood than it did twenty years, and spans further into adulthood as well. For me, childhood remained delightful, even idyllic at times and once I hit the streets of my college, I recaptured that zeal and hope, but the quaking, quivering in-between ages held little appeal to me. They weren’t nearly […]
- Hope
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These 4 Phrases Can Change Your Life
The American Institute of Health estimates that 75-90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems. Research shows that 75-98 percent of mental, physical, and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life (Dr. Caroline Leaf). When I read Proverbs 31:25, I delight in the possible and cringe at how far off […]