Awkward Christian
Dear Awkward, I struggle with insomnia. My mind will simply not “turn off” at bedtime as I have to analyze my day. For example, I’ll wonder if I said something bad about someone behind their back. How do I turn off my magnificent brain? Sincerely, Magnificent Dear Magnificent, When I was in elementary school, my …
Dear Awkward: How Can I Turn Off My Magnificent Brain?Read More
Dear Awkward, God spoke to me in 2017 and told me that a gentleman that attends church with me would become my husband. Well, it’s 2019 and it hasn’t happened yet, although God speaks to me frequently about the situation. My question is, what does God want me to do while I’m waiting? Why would …
Dear Awkward: Help! God said I would get married. I’m still single.Read More
Dear Awkward, I work at a large Fortune 500 company. Recently one of my coworkers, Carlos, was promoted and now leads a small team. Since the promotion, Carlos has been trying to assert his new authority—even over people, like me, who don’t work for him. For example, in meetings with senior executives, he mansplained the …
Can I confess something? Every year, Lent stresses me out. Ash Wednesday, the traditional start to the season, approaches, and I think how am I going to commemorate Lent this year? Traditionally, Christians choose some sort of fast for the 40 days before Easter, and participating in that tradition genuinely blesses me. But the decision-making about what to give up is an invitation for major performance anxiety. …
I used to think goals were like rock climbing, or more specifically, like those tiny little plastic handholds in an indoor climbing gym. When I set goals, it was like choosing, with zero understanding, the shape and size of each grip, as well as their placement on a sheer cliff face. Once they were installed, …
A lot of time when people talk about setting goals, they say goals make us more focused, productive, and successful. Quote honestly, I think wanting to be more productive is a TERRIBLE reason to set goals. That sounds stressful and unappetizing to me. You see, goals aren’t about doing more, being more, or becoming someone …
A Little Yes Live: Goals that Nurture Your Inner ToddlerRead More
Does your faith often feel more like a to-do list than a place of respite? Do service projects, devotionals, Bible study, committees, Sunday school service, and discipleship sometimes feel like a full-time, very thankless job? At the root of our overwhelming faith are choices. We make thousands of tiny decisions to say yes instead of …
Your deep negative emotions about your schedule matter. Do not explain them away with pretty verses like “I can do all things in Christ”.
My Schedule is So Busy I Don’t Even Know How to Cut Something. Help!Read More
Looking back, it’s still hard for me to pinpoint just where I went wrong in that conversation. I love the earnestness of the girl on that staircase, her eagerness to seek virtue, her willingness to have a hard conversation. I admire her desire to please God, to make wise choices, to follow the counsel of people she respected. But underneath it all, I imagined God as a kind of benevolent torturer.
Last night, after I finished packing for a long trip, I decided to move all my succulents outside for the duration of our weeklong vacation. I have nine pots of various sizes on the bookshelves in our front room: one tiny barrel cacti, four plants that look like desert seaweed, and assorted echeveria in dark …
Houseplants Are Zombies of the Apocalypse: The MudroomRead More
I read my first and only Frank Peretti novel in ninth grade. My sister, Katie, brought it with her when she moved back from the children’s home where she’d lived for the last seven years, along with her collection of pig tchotchkes and a thin copy of the Living Bible. In the room we suddenly shared, …
I would experience menopause eventually. But who would I change into? Would I like that person when I met her?
Generally, clicking “Buy Now” shouldn’t make your hands shake. It shouldn’t make your stomach tie in knots or pump adrenaline through your body. You shouldn’t feel so jittery you want to run screaming from your computer. But that’s exactly how I felt the morning I sat down to purchase a web domain name for a …
How Courageous Persistence Can Lead to Hope: For iBelieveRead More
The summer I was seventeen, I gave my life to Agatha Christie. Curling on the floor of my room, I read a book a day. I liked Hercule Poirot best, then Miss Marple, then Harley Quin. I did not care for Tommy and Tuppence. At the beginning of the summer, I felt as though I would …
The sirens sounded behind me as I rounded the corner in my beat-up Camry. It was late 1999; I was 21. It never feels good to get pulled over by the police, but when the cop told me I had an expired registration, I wanted to sink into the floor. The notice to renew was …
The Bible first shocked me in high school. Our pastor read from Psalm 137, and the last verse blew my mind—and not in a good way. It read, “Happy is the one who seizes [Babylonian] infants and dashes them against the rocks.” I recoiled. Our pastor explained that the Psalm was meant to horrify us. …
5 Ways the Lament Psalms Carry Us in Troubled TimesRead More
If I knew anything for certain when I was a child, it was that I was not the artist of the family—my older sister Katie was. Looking at her work, I knew I’d never be as good as her. I wouldn’t even be in the same universe as her. Anyway, I had my own ‘talents’: …
When I was first trying to write regularly twenty years ago, I could not, for the life of me, finish anything. At the time, I was trying to write fiction. I wrote one story about a husband and wife making a hard decision over the phone. I could hear their voices in my head, imagine …
You would think that when you feel horrified, ashamed, and terrified, you would know you are feeling horrified, ashamed, and terrified. But in my experience, that’s not a given. Take one twilight, about two years ago. Someone that knows my family well invited me to a Facebook group along with some other people I trust. In the …
In college, when I read Psalm 119, I underlined the first verse: “Happy are those whose way is blameless.” Next to it, I wrote, “Is anyone happy?“ At the time, I thought my way was blameless. I was a student leader in Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru)’s ministry. I read my Bible and prayed regularly. …
God Takes Happiness Seriously—and So Should You: for RelevantRead More
I really wanted to get excited with Martha. But instead, I felt panicky. At the playground with our kids, she was telling me about a powerful sermon she heard with her husband. “The preacher pointed out that if every Christian family in the US were to adopt, there would be no children in the foster care system. …
I used to hate praying. Let me qualify that statement so you don’t think I’m completely beyond redemption: I’ve always thought prayer was essential for faith. At the right moments—say, praying with other people—I loved laying hands on someone and lifting up their need to God. I loved when others prayed for me. I longed …
Not that long ago, I was cleaning out a drawer in our living room and came across a treasure: a “Give Thanks” banner I crafted for November decoration. Often, we hang birthday or Christmas or New Year’s banners as part of our holiday decorations. I love the homemade signs; I love the visual reminder to …
Three Ideas for When You Feel Anxious About ThanksgivingRead More
Here’s a true story: I was scared of lighting matches until I was twenty years old. Twenty years later, now many books of matches under my belt, I find this both ridiculous and completely understandable. Ridiculous because matches are necessary and not really that difficult. And understandable because in order to light a match you …
