"Runt." "He'll never live." "He's so scrawny." I don't know what I did wrong. I was born, I guess. While all my brothers and sisters were cute, wriggly little pups, I was the outcast. Never expected to do much. To be much. At the pet store, the chubby, groping fingers of girls and boys would rove over all of our heads, scratching our ears, picking us up and snuggling their cheeks next to ours. Such happy feelings filled me, I couldn't help but lick their giggling faces with big swipes of my tongue. But eventually those happy feelings died as…

In his book Love Does, lawyer Bob Goff writes about a very important technique he uses, both inside the courtroom and as a way of life. He tells his clients when they are on the witness stand, there is a very strict rule they must adhere to: they must always keep their hands open, palms up. Why is this technique so important? I'm glad you asked. What is one of the first things we do when we're angry, stressed, enraged or overwhelmed? We clench our fists. It's our body's natural reaction when faced with conflict. It's almost as if by…

For the past several years, I've asked God to give me a word or phrase to meditate on during the course of the year. They usually revolve around an attribute of His, and boy, have I learned a lot by this practice. Last year's word was presence. I actively sought to put aside my to-do list to seek Jesus and His presence. Mary of Bethany is one of my favorite people in the Bible because whenever we read about her, she is found at Jesus' feet. That's how I want to live. I prayed about this year's word for weeks…

A stable foreshadowing a tomb. A weary girl trembling with fatigue and pain. A father with the weight of a new family pressing on his shoulders. A king gripped with fear that the Promised Child will be his undoing. And shepherds, their limbs trembling as angels announce a message that rocks their world to the core. Yet amidst these poignant images, the part of the Christmas story that touches my heart most deeply comes through the words of an aged man…Simeon. God has promised him that his eyes will not close in death until he physically sees the Messiah. As Joseph…

Are you in the middle of a Christmas gone bad? I'm not talking about a pile of stress you brought on yourself by setting unrealistic expectations. I'm not talking about trying to be the Martha Stewart of party throwers, scrambling to find those oh-so-perfect gifts, being up to your elbows in ribbons, or any of the other ridiculous ways we let ourselves be drawn into the spiral of insanity that drives so many this time of year. What I'm talking about is altogether different. The unexpected diagnosis. Abandoning family plans because you're inside a hospital room with a loved one.…

Past stars and galaxies, the glittering lights of mysteries beyond I flew. I was not alone. No, an entire heavenly congregation soared with me. We danced past shimmering hosts and luminescent wonders, winging and dancing, spiraling and speeding past the diamonds of the Holy One’s masterpiece until we pushed past the transparent glass of the blue marbled planet’s firmament. I breathed in the frigid air, peering through the night sky, to look down on this strange place…the King’s new home. Humble. Broken. Needy. Such a startling contrast from the glory of whence He had come. Indeed, the raw starkness of it swirled…