The Blog
of grace & gumption
I looked at my alarm. It was not my plan to wake up at five a.m. on what should be a lazy summer morning, but three thoughts finally propelled me out of bed: coffee, quiet, and YouVersion. (Yes, in that order; don’t judge me!) After using YouVersion almost exclusively...
My family and I recently returned from a 2,500-mile road trip. We traveled from Texas to Kentucky and enjoyed visiting The Ark Encounter, The Creation Museum, Mammoth Cave National Park, Hot Springs, and several other stops along the way. We've always loved exploring...
My Mother Has No Wrinkles My mother has no wrinkles Her hair, no hint of gray No pounds of time on her behind For her to wish away. Her arms aren’t soft or flabby Her spine is never bent No failing ears so she can’t hear Her granddaughter’s laments. My...
If I had to personify 2017, I'd describe it as a bitter, scowling, crotchety old neighbor who yells at kids to get off his lawn and refuses to decorate his house for Christmas. No matter how many times I reached out and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, I...
I am safe. My family is safe. My home is secure. And for all of that, I am so grateful. We're in the midst of Hurricane Harvey right now, as so many of you are as well. Honestly, I don't even have the words to comment on the devastation. I've seen photos of my friends...
One of my brothers is an Air Force pilot and came home from a tour in Afghanistan just a few weeks ago. My other brother was in the Army, and he too came home from the Middle East many years ago. My father came home from his Army tour in Vietnam before I was born, and...
Fellowship is one of the core values of the New Testament church, so it makes sense that one of the worst feelings is going to church and not having any friends there. If that's how you feel, you're not alone. I've been there numerous times over the years and will be...
A few years ago, we had a garage sale at our house and my in-laws came over to help. After several hours, our old couches still hadn’t sold, so I took some photos and added them to Facebook. My sweet mother-in-law just happened to be sitting on one of the couches when...
The situation is inevitable. Your schedule is full. Your mind is swimming. But you need - and want - to spend time in prayer. However, when you finally get to push Pause on your life so you can sit down to pray… crickets. Your mind draws blank and you can barely...
Several years ago, my husband and I wrote a Christmas program for our church called The Arrival. Our premise was to portray the life of Christ from the cradle to the grave in a modern-day setting with the hope that, by stripping away cultural differences, people would...
Our church’s fiscal year begins in April each year, so every March we get to vote on the new proposed budget. Maybe it’s because I spent nine years in the finance industry crunching numbers for clients, but every year I can’t help but look at the church budget from a...
Even though it’s only April, many children’s ministries have been prepping for Vacation Bible School since January. At my church, we’re doing Lifeway’s Galactic Starveyors curriculum this year and we’ve already had several major planning meetings. VBS is one of my...