Have you ever made dinner for your kids, and all you heard were complaints such as, “I don’t like it!”? What about the post-Christmas crash where kids wonder why they didn’t get more? Or exactly what their friends got? How do we teach our children to be thankful? With six kids from teenagers to toddlers, we are still learning. Here are some things that have helped and are helping us in our...
What do you think is the best part of being a grandparent? What’s that well-worn quip? “The best thing about being a grandparent is that you can spoil the grandkids, then send them home to their parents!” Really? That’s it? That’s the best thing about being a grandparent? Hmmm . . . I hope not! Who wants spoiled children running around? There’s got to be something better. So, what is the best...
How do you view your position? How do you see your platform? Is your platform your purpose? Or is your platform a way to carry out your purpose? I remember sitting in the floor of my bedroom one day and my dad walked in. He told me, “Emma, imagine that all of your titles were taken away. All of your platforms—gone. Take away the title, ‘daughter,’ ‘student,’ ‘girlfriend,’ ‘author,’ ‘YouTuber,’...
Christian truth is about as welcome in today’s culture as a wet shaggy dog shaking himself at the Miss America Pageant. Truth does not matter, but intolerance does. If the subject is salvation, Christian truth suggests that there are those who are saved and those who are not. If the truth is about sin, then some things are right and others are wrong. If it is about hell and heaven, it means that...
Are you ever a mystery to yourself? Do you sometimes wonder who you are? You’re not alone. It’s an age-old dilemma. Even the apostle Paul saw himself as a bundle of paradoxes, acknowledging, “I don’t really understand myself” (see Romans 7:14–25). One of the most consequential blind spots we can ignore or confront is how we see ourselves. A story in the gospel of Mark illustrates the point. You...
