Category: Faith
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Faith, Family and Football; Written by a Tar Heel on Black Friday
Not my usual blog, but here we go! In America, Black Friday is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving during which retailers make enough profits from Christmas shoppers to transition from the “red” to the “black” bottom line, accounting wise. However, if you are a Tar Heel fan in 2022, it is the day your football…
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Be Encouraged, Evil has an Expiration Date!
Satan and evil have an expiration date. This is not conjecture, wishful thinking, or a nice platitude. This, my friends, is part of the Good News! Yet, only God holds the time stamp. The One who ushered in the Kingdom through a holy conception and quiet incarnation in a sleepy town called Bethlehem. The One…
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What’s In Your Suitcase? – Unpacking Ephesians 5 for Wives and Husbands (Part 2)
If Ephesians 5:22-33 were to manifest themselves inside of a suitcase, it would be full of dancing clothes in preparation for the sacred tango of love and respect between husband and wife. A marriage relationship quickly becomes a perpetual dance between two willing partners. However, in marriage, we tend to choose one of two dances.…
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Prepare the Soil of Your Life for The Good News
In a world plagued by bad news, bad ideas, and, let’s be honest, an abundance of bad attitudes, we find ourselves craving even the tiniest morsel of good news. By beckoning slivers of hope in the form of somewhat trivial pleas, we pray for something (or anything) to go our way. Please let my teenager…
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Letting God Off the Hook and Placing Him On the Throne
I was four years old when I threw the temper tantrum of a lifetime. The one that would trigger every emotional meltdown for decades to come. The fit in which every four year old fear would later ignite every teenage insecurity, every twenty something stupidity, every thirty something full-circle moment, and every forty something failure…
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Afraid to Cry
Crying is as natural and common as sneezing, yet we tend to avoid it, at least publicly, at all costs. Ever wonder why we instinctively try to hold back our tears? Why do we feel the need to apologize when tears overtake our ability to speak? Are we afraid of what tears might reveal about…
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Uprooted Hope Can Bloom Again — Even in the Soil of Grief
“And now there remain: faith . . . hope . . . love . . . these three [the choicest graces]” (1 Corinthians 13:13 AMP) I vividly remember the shell-shocked feeling of disbelief after receiving the phone call — the words that introduced me to the deepest grief I have ever known. My only brother…
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Fasting to Feasting—Lent as a Snapshot of the Christian Journey of Faith
If you’ve ever dabbled in photography (as it appears most of us have with our smartphones) or been the one with three cameras and a bag draped around your neck at a sporting event, you understand a photographer’s quest to capture the perfect snapshot. The shot that brings life into crystal clear focus while also…
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The Deep and Hidden Gifts of Grief
Perhaps only a few who have endured the heavy hand of grief would ever consider it a gift. We give gifts because we are thankful, thoughtful, loving and kind. We give gifts to celebrate moments and milestones. Gifts surprise us, bless us and fill us with gratitude. So how could grief possibly be considered a…
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Help, I Have No Peace!
When my children were very young, I remember stepping outside for a moment to take a breath of fresh air and then crying out to God with an exhale of, “I have no peace!” While this may sound fairly common, yet quite relatable, to every mom of preschoolers, it was a profound moment of both…
Faith ~ Hope ~ Love 