(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, 31 seconds) I met consistently with a thoughtful, tender-hearted, teachable sister in Christ for about three years. Fourteen years younger than me but a lover of Jesus for longer, she often introduced me as her mentor. The fact is, I will always believe…

My phone was abuzz one day last December with texts from my children asking what to wear for a concert we were all attending the following evening. Our eldest, a spiffy dresser since he was four, said I should inform his brothers that he was…

(1 minute, 54 seconds) I forgive you if you’ve never read At Home In Mitford. I’m just saying that you’ve been missing out. The protagonist, Father Tim, and his neighbor, Cynthia, who live in the fictional village of Mitford have cast spells on me that…