I'm asking our Father to give you joy, peace, and strength for this day. You are loved! ~Tara  

A glove lay on the table, its yarn soft and clean. It was proud of its red hue, striped with black and white. No knots marred its design. It was perfect. One day, a boy slid his fingers into the little glove. What a surprise! The little glove could move and wiggle, each one of its fingers working together . It flew high and dipped low. It could curl in on itself or stretch as wide as could be. What movement! What power! The little glove thought to himself, “Look at me! Can everyone see? My energy and abilities are…

“I think I thrive under a lack of accountability.” ~Michael Scott, The Office Welcome to Accountability 101. Truth is a very valuable commodity. I think it’s safe to say it’s the most valuable commodity. That and love. And time. And hummus. Okay, maybe not hummus but that’s why I need accountability. I need people to tell me when I’m off track. I need encouragers who speak the truth so I won’t end up in a proverbial bubble of thoughts and philosophies. “Yes” men, or women for you feminists out there, are great at stroking the old ego but they are…

Something that cracks me up about believer lingo is the way some of us inadvertently slip into Christianese—you know, that unique way of speaking that identifies us as “Christian” to the outside world. The problem with Christianese is that it’s only understood by people within the same subculture. Much like consulting the Urban Dictionary to understand what on earth your teenager is talking about, Christianese can be downright confusing to new believers or those outside the group. When a friend of mine moved down south to hang with us ‘sweet tea’ chicks, she was charmed by our local colloquiums and…

What is it about a car wreck that keeps us from looking away? No matter how busy our morning or crammed our schedules, when we see those flashing blue lights and watch the EMTs stooping to help pull a driver from their mangled car, we slam our brakes to get a better look. Is the person okay? Is the car totaled? Who else was involved? The more sensational the event, the worse the rubbernecking. Psychologists say the common practice of rubbernecking is human instinct--a wild mix of empathy, shock and curiosity. It's the reason people gobble up horror stories on…

Fear wears many masks. I used to think it was a one-dimensional kind of thing. A nail-biting, knee-knocking kind of reaction to anything that made me nervous or afraid. But fear that doesn't warn us away from harm is not of God. It's darkness. A tool of our enemy. And a smart enemy doesn't announce his attack before he strikes. He sneaks in, making himself look harmless. Attractive...sometimes even like another person altogether. One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 41:10. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you,…