This is installment #2 in a series about Making Scripture Your Own. (Read intro post here.) One of the things I love about Michele O’Leary is that God has truly transformed her perception of herself so that she understands her true identity—who God says that she is, and who she is able to become because...

This post first appeared as part of the Sisterhood Ministries blog series, “Her Story.” Senior year of high school I walked around the corner to see my very best friend surrounded by a bunch of laughing girls. At lunch, they’d been talking about a party one of the girls was having—a party to which everyone...

OK, that’s overstating it a bit… but I wanted to talk to you about some of the things in my online shop. EVEN THOUGH I hate sales copy as much as the next person. I have difficulty believing in someone’s sincerity when I think they just want to sell me something. And, I’ll admit, I...

  Bobby is not our first child to go to college. His sisters attended several colleges, in fact, plus lived in a few different apartments. Moving, our kids starting something new—been there, done that. Taking Bobby to Nashville (5.5 hours away) is no big deal, right? Seriously, he is talented and smart and likable and...

“The one thing I ask of the LORD—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections 
and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.He will place me...

Dear Lord, How can I possibly celebrate Mother’s Day, when it’s a day that reminds me of all that I have lost? And yet, it’s also a reminder of all that I was given. I’ve spent the past few years carefully guarding my heart from You, Lord, because You didn’t answer my prayers the way...

“And these God-chosen lives all around—what splendid friends they make!” Psalm 16:3, The Message My friendships haven’t always been perfect. Trust me. I had a falling-out with my best friend early in my senior year of high school, relegating myself to a long year of walking the halls alone. I’m the one whose mom left...

This should be easy, right? Intuitive? We don’t need checklists for how to be friends with our other friends, so why do we need this? Because we do. There is something inherently different about being friends with someone who holds a position of authority. It doesn’t mean one position is better than another—in fact, my...

[Excerpt from Designed to Pray] Dear sweet girl, You lie there in the angle of light bent around the door, in that sheltered, private spot where the light illuminates your papers, but your parents, in the living room downstairs, can’t see you from where they are reclining. The white-painted posts from the stairs in the hallway outside your door cast...

“Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus said (Mark 12:31). Who among us wouldn’t agree with that statement? When I’m sitting in a pew on Sunday and my pastor teaches that concept, I nod my head in agreement. When I’m having quiet time and I happen upon that verse, I feel confident and slightly proud. Of...