✨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

Hello, friends— As we move deeper into Advent, life in my world has been characteristically full. My oldest son is home from college, yesterday was his 19th birthday, Christmas preparations are underway—and I’m still navigating a long, exhausting water crisis in my home. Plus. And yet… the words keep coming. Faster than I can write them. My iPhone notes are loaded. If I could disappear into a quiet, media-free cabin or remote island for a month or six to simply pray and liste

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — John 8:32 (NLT) There’s a variant in recovery circles covered in the book, “the truth will set you free, but first it will $:@$* you off.” Honest awareness is hard… but it’s the first step to freedom. It gives us room to choose. We want to be open to God‘s leading here, which may look different than we expect (see my recent post on Jesus’ Relational Realities from Matthew 10.) We may need to set better boundaries,

I love this Christmas prophecy in Isaiah, predicting Jesus’s arrival and job description. His first assignment? Carrying government on his shoulders. Some days I’m tempted to ask, “Are You on the job now, Jesus? Things are looking pretty sketchy all over.” The beauty of God‘s Word is that it is dynamic, ageless, unfolding, eternal, and true. Free-willing, we forfeited paradise way back when, though Christ is on His throne, waiting for us to align, and Our Father to say, “Go!”

I often share about my son Isaac, who is a precious object lesson about so many spiritual truths. He teaches me a lot. Isaac has Down Syndrome, and he has given me countless insights, particularly about love. I can only describe the quality of his love as Divine, and I believe that people with unique abilities are indeed closer to heaven than the rest of us Now 15, Isaac still greets me with a wistfl or joyful “Mama”, as though I’d been away for a long time. His voice is full

And here’s my very favorite Neapolitan nativity in all its glory:

During the holiday season, many people wrestle with complicated feelings about relationships—absent, distant, antagonistic, or otherwise. Often, expectations (which we know can be a problem) simply don’t match reality. As always, Jesus helps. Sometimes His help comes in unexpected ways. Matthew 10 may not be very Christmassy, but it contains some of Jesus' clearest words on relationships I’ve returned to and shared again and again. Challenging our understanding of Christian l

✨I nearly forgot that I am one of the contributors to this popular Guideposts Christmas treasure, including five advent devotions by yours truly. It’s not too late to got it overnight from Amazon here: https://a.co/d/5QUXYhs

Dig Deeper: “For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light.” — Mark 4:22 (NLT) Jesus never exposes anything to shame us. He brings things into the light so He can heal them.

(+How to escape the game for good.) I’m no chess master, but I know the basics. Most people don’t realize that pawns aren’t just tiny pieces on a board. They’re: • the most abundant • the least valued • the first to take the hits • the most easily sacrificed • and the ones used to protect the power behind them They’re the frontline for a reason. Pawns absorb damage so the “king” or “queen” never risks himself and can advance. In most games, a pawn is sacrificed long before an