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No More Masks
As the days grow shorter and golden leaves fall from trees, we pack up Halloween decorations in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although a few costumes may linger in photos on the fridge, everything else is set aside for another year. However, there’s one thing that few of us ever put away: the everyday masks we live behind. We all have masks of one sort or another. Reasons vary. For some, our masks protect us from going too deep or being too real. For others, masks allow us to live more boldly as the alter ego we espouse. Still others crave physical and…
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Doubters Welcome
Many of us have been taught that doubting what we believe is comparable to a deadly sin. As a budding Christian I had the hardest time trying to wrap my mind around the idea that before anything was created, God had always existed. In the midst of nothing, the fullness of everything was there, for He was and is and will always be complete, lacking nothing. I asked these questions, yet I was often turned away. I quickly learned that if you had questions, or a hint of doubt, you were displaying weakness as a Christian. This dismissal of doubt among believers still persists! Somehow the litmus test of "true…
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Only Strong and Courageous
I cried when I hugged my daughter goodbye on the parking lot across the street from the dorm where she now lives. I didn’t care. I knew that moment would unleash the emotions I had bottled up all summer long. So I released it right there. Up to this point, I had watched my student take charge of her college checklist. I helped her unpack and I watched her settle into her new “home.” Honestly, it all felt so wrong but I knew in my heart God wanted this. So when I hugged her one last time, God said, “Let her go.” And I did…
