(1 minute, 56 seconds) A new acquaintance asked if I had written a book. Though not yet published, my manuscript, Shuffle If You Must: Lessons of Perseverance from Along the Broken Road, is finished. I described it to this person as my offering to suffering sisters…

1 minute, 42 seconds Our tiny cottage rental was charming in every way except for one nearly undetectable flaw: sloped floors. I never would have noticed if it weren’t for the cheap scale I bought to help keep our eating honest while we worked remotely….

2 minutes, 18 seconds Joy is one of those things we all long for, but without practical tools and real application, it can feel elusive. I recently shared three truths about joy based on Galatians 5:22 in A Settled Disposition. We don’t try to manufacture…

1 minute, 51 seconds Saltine crackers. That’s all I had in my cupboards that seemed anything close to acceptable to feed four abandoned and hungry puppies one summer day. About half a mile into my daily walk, at the gravel crossroads between Robey’s hog farm…

1 minute, 50 seconds My college degrees were in Athletic Training and Fitness. Early in my career, I taped a lot of football players’ ankles, and over the last two and a half decades, I’ve trained many clients as a personal trainer. I particularly remember…

(2 minutes, 43 seconds) I met a new friend not long ago—one of those rare, instant connections that defies explanation. Kelly told me that her earliest memories as a little girl were of boldly approaching people, looking up into their faces, studying their features, and…

(2 minutes, 3 seconds) It would have been my mom’s 86th birthday this week. As a very young girl I sat next to my mother on Sunday mornings on the hard wooden pew of our country church. I remember two things about sitting beside her:…

(1 minute, 43 seconds) Nothing stirs my heart quite like hearing sisters and brothers bear testimony to the goodness and grace of God in their lives. It’s a joy like no other to be the recipient of the sharing of another’s faith journey. While my…

(1 minute, 18 seconds) I have the opening verses of Psalm 18 framed and hanging in our dining room—a central place in our home because it’s a Psalm that centers me. “I love you, O Lord, my strength.The Lord is my rock and my fortress…

1 minute, 28 seconds Do you remember the television game show Let’s Make a Deal? Selected members of the studio audience, called “traders,” made deals with the host, Monty Hall. Each trader was offered a prize and then given the choice of keeping it or…