This weekend marks 8 years since my mother passed away on July 12, 2011, and as with any major life event, the anniversary brings a time of reflection and assessment. It’s been quite a ride: highest highs and lowest lows. My time of paralyzing loss was followed by new normals, daily adjustments, and new vision….
A friend was on a road trip with her son a few days ago when they passed this church, and her son Bo said, “Someday when I grow up, I want to fix broken churches.” It was a strangely odd, yet telling comment that tugged at my friend’s heart (and mine when I heard it)….
Have you ever had something you wanted to say, but your words got in the way?
I think we’d all like to break our mirrors and throw them away at times. They help us and they hurt us. Ultimately, sometimes they control us. Recently I had the opportunity to talk to teenage girls about friend drama, or perhaps more accurately, girl drama. I hate it when people stereotype what girls are like, myself…
I am rich. I’m overwhelmingly rich, but I’m not talking about a bank account or houses or stuff. I’m not even talking about the fact that I live in one of the most wealthy nations on earth where we have more material wealth than 99% of all people in the world. Those things describe many Americans. I’ve…
This week I’ve been awestruck while preparing to lead a discussion about God’s nature. There are many things about Him that are beyond description, but today I was truly taken with the fact that He is as a shelter for all who take refuge in Him. He loves us enough to be there for us without fail. Read Psalm 91…
“Do you really love God?” It was the drummer at a Christian concert who had come to the mic to ask the question. I was probably seventeen and a junior in high school as I sat in the Archbold High School Gymnasium for the concert. I remember thinking, “I believe in God and I am…
I’d like to recommend a fantastic book I just finished reading by Dallas Willard. Willard was a Christian philosopher who wrote and spoke extensively on spiritual identity, formation, and discipleship. He passed away in 2013, but His books will continue to leave a permanent imprint on his readers and on Christian culture. The title of the book is The Great…
APRIL 30, 2012 BY VICKIGATCHELL In Light of Eternity Photo courtesy of Tami Werling Years ago I attended a summer training program with a Christian ministry called The Navigators. It was a 4 week venture where a small group of collegiates, together with a few staff, met to work, to play, and to study the scriptures. It was…
It’s Friday night and I am finishing a week of posts about how we can only find lasting fulfillment in Christ. It seems fitting that I end with one of my favorite quotes from early church father St. Augustine of Hippo. Augustine lived in the third century after Jesus, and was a theologian and philosopher. I…