The opposite of love is not hate. It’s fear. How many lives have been destroyed because of fear? How many marriages ruined, how many children scarred, how many dreams unfulfilled and how many people chained in the terrifying prison of addiction because of fear? So many of us are experiencing a life half-lived. We cower in the shadows, afraid to …
Fear is one thing every human being across the globe has experienced. Whether it’s fear of change, the unexpected diagnosis, family drama, or the monster hiding in the closet, we are people who tremble at the thought of the unknown. We like what we can control, but when we have no control, fear breathes against our heart like a panting, …
Perfectionism can be the sneakiest of beasts, bleeding not only the pages of our own stories but marring the chapters of our children and grandchildren’s stories as well. Not long ago, I had the privilege of visiting a beautiful riding ranch for children with disabilities in northern Arkansas. This equestrian center is set up like a miniature western town, complete …
I was sitting on a rumbling plane in Chicago, waiting for the painfully slow pilot to push us back from the gate. No one seemed to be in a hurry that morning. Not the airline nor the stewards. Even the ground controllers outside my window appeared to be dragging their feet. I blinked the grit from my eyes. I wasn’t …
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 …
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 …
I recently heard this funny little story at an event where I was singing: There was a little old lady who woke up one morning to realize she only had three hairs left on her head. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because I can braid my hair today.” So she did. The next …
Last year I took a fascinating class at the national American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Nashville, Tennessee. It was taught by Carrie Stuart Parks, an author and forensic artist and was titled “Don’t Lie to Me”. The premise of the class was how language can be an identifier to recognize deception. When I realized I was sitting next to …
Words are powerful. They can build up a life through language doused in love, or they can cut a life down like a scythe slicing through brittle grass. When I recently asked my oldest daughter what she loved most about her two best friends at school, she replied, “I’ve never heard either of them said a bad word about anyone. …
As I watched the footage of the horrific shooting in Las Vegas, my heart ripped a little further. Senseless. I can’t understand the hate that would fill a mind and heart so completely that they would shoot into a crowd of happy, oblivious people. Not just one shot, not two, but over and over and over again. My chest aches …