I don’t know what kind of world we are about to face. I have my fears and legitimate concerns, like many of the rest of you. At the same time, I know some of you feel like God has prevailed and all will now be well. I feel an obligation to offer words of wisdom...

One of the most alluring things about Christianity is the feeling of belonging, of being part of something bigger. Of knowing where you fit inside that insular bubble. Of knowing the answers to the fill-in-the-blank questions, knowing what verses to quote, knowing where to find things in the Bible. And one of the loneliest places...

If you read Praying Upside Down, you know that in 2007 my husband and I owned two houses for two years because we couldn’t sell the first one. In the process, I began praying for the woman, whoever she was, who would someday buy the house. Doing so opened my eyes to seeing answers to...

Not long ago, I re-read an old book. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was different than I remembered. I mean, some things made me cringe a teensy bit—but I found myself reading stories I’d forgotten, totally interested to see what happened. I was blown away by the confidence of the...

I was thinking again the other day (as I do daily, ad nauseam) about my struggles with my faith. My doubts, the journey I’ve been on, the losses I’ve experienced as my faith has evolved—my old (and much-loved) church community, friendships, my sense of security. My new church recently has been having intentional conversations about...

When some people tell me I’m unique, I think perhaps it’s a subtle way of telling me I’m weird. Like, not in a good way. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve quit worrying so much about that and I’ve embraced my uniqueness. After all, God made me this way, and I have to believe He...

Life can be hard—especially when we’re juggling a lot of things. Like holiday gatherings, planning for big family feasts, checking your bank balance online and wondering when you’ll have time to do all the Christmas shopping you want to do, for example :-). For me, simply sitting with God in prayer is easy… when things...

My friend Michele just loves cows. She stops on her walks to take pictures of the cows standing in the fields watching her. Knowing that, whenever I see cows now, I think of her and smile. (And let’s be real—this guy makes you smile, too, doesn’t he? (Or she? I don’t know. I don’t know...

For the cover of the new 2023 prayer prompt calendar, I wanted something a little more conceptual than in some previous years. I wanted to find an image that said “prayer” at first glance. It’s a lot harder than you might think. I sent dozens of texts to my kids and to friends asking for...

  This is part 3 in my Think • Write • Pray • Explore series focused on TIME. Read part 1 and part 2 here if you missed them, and if you don’t have the January prayer prompt calendar about time, you can download it for free here.  So often, I make decisions about my...