The sun descends on the horizon, and the thought comes: "Did I do a good enough job today"? Almost every night, I would evaluate this question. I realize now that this was kind of like asking myself: "Do I deserve to sleep?" Most days, my answer was no. And I would feel defeated, exhausted, and [...]

Snowflakes falling, Christmas coming Born in a manger No longer strangers To God our Father Who sent His Son To live among us And rescue us from danger Our sinful, flawed, and helpless selves The weight of shame and crushing doubts Fled like the shepherds ran that night To the baby wrapped in LIGHT Gift [...]

Being cared for is one of our deepest needs as humans, and caring for others is a noble thing to do. The reason we care for others is because God cares for us. All throughout the Bible, we see examples of God caring for His people. When Jesus came to earth, He further revealed God's [...]

It was the end of my freshman year in college when I got a glimpse of what it looks like to give thanks to God in all circumstances and to be content with His gifts. I'd been feeling sorry for myself because all my friends were off on spring break. Even my family was on [...]

When I lived in Peru for a few months, some days I felt like I didn't belong. I was a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, one-armed American. I stuck out among my Peruvian neighbors. No matter how many people welcomed me into their homes and their city, I knew I was different. This experience has given me [...]

Night falls, and in the quiet, the thoughts come: "What did I do today that matters? Could I have done something differently in that situation? If this was my last day on earth, would I be happy with the way I spent it?" But how do we know if what we did matters? As children [...]

Some Bible stories are easy for me to relate to. When Simon Peter and his friends go fishing for a long period of time and catch nothing, I feel their pain. They most likely expected to catch a lot of fish but came up completely empty. Keep in mind these are professional fishermen who stayed [...]

Maybe you've heard that, in Philippians 4:13, the Bible teaches that you can do anything you want if you believe hard enough. So, if you want to be an engineer, but you hate math, this verse could teach that, with enough faith and prayer, you will become an engineer. But is that really what this [...]

Is God calling you to be a missionary?” Our pastor asked the question while he introduced the visiting missionaries from Sierra Leone. I sat in the hard pew and watched the couple walk on stage to share what God was doing in their mission work. I tuned out and blankly watched the slideshow of places [...]

CRACK! CRASH! Ivy gazed in horror at the chaos around her. Everywhere she turned, everywhere she looked, there was turmoil—she couldn't escape it. The very earth was trembling as mountain caps collapsed and fell. Ivy clutched at her head. Peace. She needed peace. Quiet. Stillness. Where could she find that on this crumbling earth? Another [...]