Small Steps Matter In a Crisis The video of my second son taking his first steps pops up on my social media memories every year. In his typical, laid-back fashion, at a whopping fourteen months old, he had avoided walking. Our friends from church happened to be at our home, and she had her phone out video recording. Suddenly, our sweet, chubby boy stood up and began walking. He never looked back after that first step. I remember the time…
How Do We Be “Poor in Spirit” The moment our missionary team stepped off the bus putrid smell wove itself into my senses. As a sixteen-year-old girl from a small Appalachian town, this Peruvian landscape was unlike anything I had ever seen. The dirt under our feet stirred up dust and I sneezed. Looking around I marveled at the paradox. Children in school uniforms were walking home to houses made of cardboard and mud. We made our way through the…
When Darkness is All You See When Darkness is All You See –  In Isaiah 9:1 we are offered right away something we all long for: hope. It says. “But there will be no gloom for her…” I looked up this word “gloom” and it is a Hebrew word that can also mean “darkness.” So Isaiah starts our passage out with “But there will be no darkness…” Isaiah 9 (ESV) “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great…
How Waiting is the Worst *This is an exert from my Bible study, “Lessons in the Desert.” Get your copy here! Waiting is the worst. Waiting for anything is the WORST. As our family entered the international adoption world, my life was turned upside down with a new kind of waiting. Unlike many times in life, with adoption there are no due dates. The uncertainty of waiting was enough to drive me insane. . Wait? No thank you. Instead, I’d…