If your social media feed is anything like mine, it’s overflowing with holiday coziness. But twinkle lights and spice-dusted lattes aren’t always enough to foster gratitude when the calendar commands. Some of us feel our lack more deeply than our blessings, and turning that around isn’t a simple attitude adjustment. That doesn’t mean we need to give up on giving thanks….
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3 Unconventional Prayers of Thanks {for the Weary}
3 Lies That Keep Us from Choosing Rest
While mowing the lawn last summer, I moved the wrong way and felt an ominous pop in my lower back. The next moment I was hobbling to the kitchen for ice packs, ibuprofen, and a muscle relaxer. “I can’t afford this right now,” I told my husband through tears. It’s a lament I repeat each time I wake up with a…
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When You’re Stuck and Need to Believe that Change Is Possible
I’m not sure when it started, but somewhere along the way I began describing my life with some pretty troubling adjectives. Stuck. Trapped. Defeated. They were words I said to myself, mostly. I might have shared them with a close friend, or occasionally hinted at them here, but mainly I’ve kept them politely hidden, like a festering wound covered by…
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Have You Been Bullying Yourself?
You’re at a friend’s house, and your kid is pushing every button you’ve got. After a morning of battling wills, you finally lose it and let slip a glimpse of your worst self. When the smoke clears, you slump down on the couch beside your friend—the one who’s known you all your life. She touches your shoulder, looks you in…
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On Turning 39: 3 Things I’ve Learned Since 29
I’m 39 today. I’ve been dreading this birthday. It marks the last gasp of a brutal decade—one that ushered in emotional disorders, chronic physical challenges, spiritual battles, and relational wounding. I just keep thinking: If my 3os were so hard, what am I up against in my 40s? Yet this past month my thoughts have turned to the benefits I’ve reaped…
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To My Husband on Our 15th Anniversary {with pictures}
You woke me this morning with a kiss on the cheek and a whispered, “Happy anniversary. I love you.” Then you went downstairs and made me bacon and coffee. My love language. A year ago we talked of saving up for a big anniversary trip. Our 15th wasn’t an anniversary to let slip by unnoticed. There have been too many…
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Be Gentle with Yourself
I almost skipped church on New Year’s Day. It was the last place I wanted to be—surrounded by people, music, and words of hope and redemption. It would all be salt in a wound, but I couldn’t come up with a legitimate excuse to stay home. The worship was relevant, the sermon like an arrow aimed at my cynicism. I…
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