My 19-year-old college freshman just went back to school after a luxurious, lingering month at home. There wasn’t much prep involved. With a little teamwork, the whirlwind of chaos that was his room was packed up and gone in a few short hours. When he first arrived a month ago, my mostly orderly small house was suddenly overrun with ginormous mounds of laundry and everything that had once fit neatly into a dorm room. His younger brother was thrilled to have him home—big-broth

My printer warns me about running out of ink for a long time. I delay changing the cartridge, partly because I want to get every last smidgen out of the expensive thing—and partly because I don’t want to interrupt my work. If I’m honest, I have mild resentment toward the printer for warning me so early, long before the ink actually runs out. My old printer used to fade gradually, which helped. Sometimes I didn’t notice until it was too late, and then I’d realize I didn’t have

I appreciate how blunt John is in this verse—and how swiftly grace rushes in when we’re willing to stop fooling ourselves. There is no condemnation in the light—only truth, cleansing, and restored fellowship.💖

✨Debriefing Christmas✨ This morning, while the house was still quiet, I sat in the darkness of my living room, gently illuminated by the silent glow of my Christmas decorations, opened gifts still scattered across the floor and coffee table. It was a beautiful day; the boys make it more so, especially Isaac, who’s so grateful and delighted, opening each gift as if it was exactly what he wanted. I love Christmas. And in recent years, I’ve embraced the long call to retreat into

🎄 Merry, Merry Christmas! 🎄 Thank you for hanging with me through this tumultuous and deeply spiritually fruitful season. I’m truly grateful for you—for your presence, your prayerful engagement, and your openness to the work God is doing in our hearts. Before I take a prayerful pause  as we move into the New Year, I wanted to share the final posts from this past week — reflections rooted in Christ’s peace, presence, and surprising grace. You can always find these and more a

A friend reached out recently, heartbroken at the loss of a beloved dog after losing another only a few months earlier. I asked him how he was doing. He said, “Flailing—but in the right direction.” I love that. So true to my experience. And so instructive. Another friend recently shared how she hit a painful bottom after the death of her longtime companion. Brought to her literal knees—after many less anguished years of faithful prayer—she persevered, crying out to God for re

✨God, Our Everlasting Father✨ My papà was an extraordinary human. He had a warm, vibrant personality—brilliant, inquisitive, and knowledgeable about many things. He was extremely hard-working, capable, charming, and fun. Plus, he was a great cook. He also had some very destructive issues that left scars. I miss him deeply—both the relationship we had in the best of times, and the relationship we never had. He died 25 years ago. Our human fathers can be tremendous resources—ro

I’ve done it. You’ve done it. We’ve done it: “If only I had more/less ________.”(very popular) “If only I had a _________.”(also very popular) “If only we had a different _________.”(extremely popular) “If only I/they/we could fix __________.” (you get the idea…) Shaky ground indeed! Instead, God says to me and to you: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace,

Hello again: Unbelievably, Christmas is just five days away. I've been scrambling slightly even while pausing to reflect at length, which helps keep me grounded. I hope you've been able to carve out some quiet time to stay anchored and expectant in the midst of it all. Here are this week's posts, which cover a lot of spiritual ground, all centered on the Reason for the Season . Have a Seat — A vivid vision of truly embracing God's invitation to sit quietly for a spell and th

Pretty swell news! Just got my advance author copies of Guideposts’ Inspiration from the Garden. Such a pretty book and even the type is green! Join me and several other green(er) thumbs for some faith-filled reflections inspired by gardening.🌱🌹 Preorder now for February delivery: 👉 https://a.co/d/ja3zq8Q

These days, I have an artificial tree that folds up tight and deploys neatly into a fine shape—no pruning required. But in years past, I shopped for a cut tree. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I have beautiful ornaments, so I was particular about the shape. Yet no matter how carefully I chose on the tree lot, there was always pruning involved—snipping here and there to optimize the silhouette and leave plenty of room at the base for gifts. My former home in Berkeley Spr

Jesus said: “…Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5 (NLT) What I absolutely love about this verse is “making” is present tense, ongoing action. Many of us, particularly in recovery, have experienced new life, and with Christ, this new life is an ongoing promise. In Him, we can experience newness of life over and over, mini-resurrections and renewals on the way to a new earth.

As someone quite prone to control and self-reliance, I’m (still)learning a better way: Trust God. Many of humanity’s current problems are God-sized. Realigning with God realigns our perspective, enabling us to turn our problems and ourselves over to the One who has all power. I can’t fix it, them, me. God can. Let Him. 💪🏽 Big God. Small problems. “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT) PRAYER: Mighty God, help us live with gre

During my morning quiet time, God dropped a visual into my mind. Imagine if you didn’t believe chairs were reliable, and you had a paralyzing fear of chairs or even merely of sitting. Imagine if you went through life with deep-seated doubts about the security of chairs of any kind or the safety of sitting at all. Since there’s a lot of sitting involved in many of our lives, this would be a real issue. By the way, these are rare but real phobias: Kathisophobia (fear of sitting

Join me in praying for those who feel intense loneliness right now. 🙏🏽💖 Sometimes our wilderness is voluntary. Sometimes it's not. Either way, God invites us to reframe it as a chance to draw more deeply from Christ’s infinite well of love, joy, healing, peace, and purpose. Just like the woman at the well—who sought satisfaction through relationships—Jesus astonishes us with His mercy and can fully quench our thirst when we seek Him. In turn, we can point others to the Wel

I’ve had a few counselors in my life, along with mentors and sponsors. Some were wise and caring; others weren’t a great fit, or carried bias and baggage. Still others were harsh or overly critical. All were human—and therefore fallible. Not Jesus. He’s perfect, knows me perfectly, and offers perfect counsel. Wonderful Counselor indeed. Looking back, much of what brought me to counseling came from living out of alignment with God’s design—for me, my life, and my place in the