We left our hotel in plenty of time to get to our friend’s wedding last Saturday. 

But our GPS sent us to a strip mall, not a beach resort. 

Were we lost? 

If Christianity was once called the Way (literally, the Road), its followers were the first roadies. 

See why it’s good to be a roadie (and if we finally found the wedding venue on time!).

Read it all here.

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. Will you join me there?

I look into the eyes of José’s mother in the photo.

I’ve seen José’s photos for years, but never hers. I see she’s a real mother, with a real mother’s heart, just like mine.

I see a woman who wants the same thing for her children as I want for mine.

See three things you can pray for the children of El Salvador here.

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart for our series #ChristianMissions.

Will you join me there?

I went from feeling too busy one year ago to feeling too isolated.

Where did I belong anymore?

Whether your activities sped up or slowed down due to the pandemic, we all occasionally feel disconnected.

We feel like a world divided.

How can we return to unity?

Read more here:

When You Need to Pray, “Make Us One”

We’re praying at Lyli’s today, “Lord, make us one.”

Will you join me there for her series, Pray Big?

The past twelve months have left us hungry for in-person conversations. We miss hugging each other and laughing together and even the occasional run-in conversations in the church parking lot.

Yes, we can still make phone calls and hear each other’s voices. And yes, we can even see each other on screens and chat. But we still long for more connection.

But until we’re able to resume more normalcy, our words minus our bodies will have to continue pulling double-duty.

Our words are doing some heavy lifting.

If there is ever a moment in our modern era for Christians to use our written words generously, this is the time.

How can we maximize the use of our written words? How can we pack them full of love and meaning?

Read it all here: 

3 Ways to Maximize Your Written Words

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. Will you join me there?

Do you ever wish God worked like your GPS app?

• Giving you turn-by-turn directions on one screen
• Showing you the whole route in one glance
• Offering clear options with respective ETAs

I think I’d like that. 

Or would I?

God works a different way. And because of it, we can let go of our tight hold on wanting to control the future. 

But how does that happen?

Read it all here

What is your work for today? How do you stay in the now? I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. Will you join me there?

Do you have a favorite recipe that you use only at Christmas? I have this one: Miss Miriam’s Surprise.

The title doesn’t indicate the deliciousness that you’ll be surprised with.

2020 has given us lots of surprises. We’ve not liked many of those.

But Jesus only surprises us with good things. 

How watchful are you for the surprises he has in store for you?

Read it all here

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart for our #ChristmasTea series. Will you join me there?

If you’re like me, you might have clothes in your closet, and behaviors in your life, that:

• Are uncomfortable (anybody else feeling the extra 5 pounds since ‘Rona?)
• Are unflattering
• Are holey (and not the good kind of holy)

We don’t have to dress out of this closet. These clothes are ugly to ourselves and to others: bad tempers, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk, lying to one another (Colossians 3:8-10).

They no longer fit us. We have permission to bag them up and get them out of the house.

Wardrobe Makeover

Instead, we can receive a wardrobe makeover.

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart for our series on Colossians 3. #RENEWED

Will you join me there?

Is your goal to become more familiar with God’s story as a whole? Go wide in your study.

Is your goal to personally connect with God through one passage? Go deep.

But either direction, go directly to the source.

Read more here for personal Bible study resources

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. Will you join me there for:

“Choose Your Direction—Go Wide or Go Deep {Personal Bible Study Resources}”

Don’t leave everything to the professionals. Every believer is called to be a minister.

One of your areas of ministry? The Reconciliation Department.

Here are 4 suggestions to help us do our work as Ministers of Reconciliation.

Read them all here: “When God Sends YOU to Be the Minister”

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart about #MissionalLiving.

Will you join me there?

In the middle of this crazy year, we can wonder: Where is God?

We once knew the right answer to this call-and-response:

“God is good all the time. And all the time __________.”

But what about now? 

Is God still good? Even in 2020?

Read the rest here:

3 Ways to Hope in God’s Goodness

I’m writing today at Do Not Depart. We’re looking at 3 places to find God’s goodness. Will you join me there?