The pressure to try to save my children is off. I can’t. There’s nothing I can do to make them believe. But what I can do is faithfully speak the truth—and live it out before them. I can answer God’s call to train up children in the way they should go (Prov. 22:6). I can wait patiently for Him to work…

There are times when I’ve felt like nothing was going quite right. Relationships seemed hard and strained. Sickness wrecked my body and plans. And my mind had to fight hard to remember God’s goodness. In that fight to remember God’s goodness, I’d rehearse Paul’s rhetorical question in Romans 8: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (8:31). A rhetorical question is a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect. It makes a point, rather than seeking an answer…

This post continues my first draft series where I write the various things on my heart and mind without editing due to time and then I press publish. Did I tell you I have a hiatal hernia? I don’t write or talk about it much but if you’re around me, you’ll quickly see and hear the effects of it. I cough a lot and must restrict what I eat. A hiatal hernia occurs when the upper part of your stomach bulges through the large muscle separating your abdomen and chest (diaphragm). I know, lovely. I was diagnosed with it after receiving a procedure to determine why I had so much pain in my abdomen. And although I haven’t been officially diagnosed, I do believe that I also have celiac disease. I have all the signs and the one time I went completely gluten free I experienced a significant improvement in my quality of life.

There isn’t much I find more delight in than caring for my children. They are a joy to be with. I could listen to my daughter’s belly laugh and my sons deep, yet still child-like, voice chatter all day long. I have had four miscarriages and I do wonder if that loss has helped me to see just what a gift from God my children are to me. But even still, when I think about this wonderful responsibility and the joy of being a mother it’s not what defines me. I don’t define myself as a mom first and I don’t believe it would be good or helpful to my children if I sought to find my identity in them either.

Each day, each hour is a worthy fight to remember our greatest love in the world. One way for you and me to fight our temptation to wander toward lesser things is to remember the love and pursuit of God. Read more of my thoughts on this at Desiring God…

Recently, I was asked a peculiar but sincere question during an open-mic Q&A. The young white man asked: Can I celebrate my whiteness or my white culture? I quickly discerned both inquiry and pain. Later I would learn that the man is a single-dad, raising two young boys who he wants to equip and disciple well. He has also been trying to gain understanding about racial reconciliation and in many ways has found himself perplexed and maybe even weighed down by the realities of our history. I didn’t know all of that when I answered but I also sense this same wrestling with other people as they begin their own journey into ethic diversity, biblical theology, and historical sins…

We know how to act, and there are things we likely wouldn’t do just for fear of what others might think. But our minds are another story. No one sees what we’re thinking — at least, that’s the lie we tell ourselves. We can have vengeful, angry thoughts; we can lust; we can be anxious; we can judge others — all within the confines of our mind. We don’t have to say a word or make a move to sin.We know how to act, and there are things we likely wouldn’t do just for fear of what others might think. But our minds are another story. No one sees what we’re thinking — at least, that’s the lie we tell ourselves. We can have vengeful, angry thoughts; we can lust; we can be anxious; we can judge others — all within the confines of our mind. We don’t have to say a word or make a move to sin. I share more at the Proverbs 31 Ministries…

We can find ourselves busy doing good things, many good and wonderful things, and before we know it we are flat on our faces exhausted. Maybe for you it’s serving in every ministry in your local church, bringing meals to every woman who gives birth, or picking up the phone instead of paying attention to that deadline. The Lord graciously used my Bible study with him to show me that I had my priorities mixed up and forgot to nurture my own love for Jesus. My Bible reading had become a task to do for others. But in doing that He also revealed my fear of what others would think if I simply said no. I saw how my over-commitment was affecting everything…

In 2007, I started an online fitness business. I produced a Christian CD for group fitness instructors and personal trainers to use with their clients. That venture was the start of my entrepreneurship—unless you count the time, at 12 years old, when I sold baked goods to my neighbors and surrounding businesses. I have always been a bit adventurous and seem to constantly have big ideas (still do!). In 2008, I managed the group fitness instructors and program for a local fitness chain. I did the basic work of a manager but saw more potential and began to implement programs, fundraisers, and marketing strategies. A few years passed and I realized that I had been putting a lot of time and energy into another company and it dawned on me, I can do this on my own… So I did…

Last week I shared on my various social media sites, a brief takeaway from a conversation I had with my mother. This takeaway has struck a nerve, understandably so. In our social media world, the use of the term “blessed” has been turned into a proclamation of all the good things that we have from vacations to cars to a new home…