The Fish Tank

Unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard of the phenomenon of the Chewbacca mask lady. A week or so ago, a stay-at-home mom of two went shopping. She went into the store looking for one thing but, like many of us, came out with something totally different. She decided to share her find and laughter with her Facebook friends and family. Little did she know that over 140 million of us needed a piece of her simple joy. "We were filled with laughter and we sang for joy." Psalms126:2 The viral video taught me a lot of things. Candace (AKA the Chewbacca lady) taught me that life's simplest moments are oftentimes the best. We don't need millions, grandeur, or a fancy well-planned event to experience joy. It's in the everyday. And, while I knew this, I needed the reminder. Sometimes I rush through my days so fast that I miss those moments robbing myself of the joy that was right in front of me all along. "Train up a child in the way he should ...

I sat in my car bawling at the red light. I had just ended a difficult text conversation with someone I love dearly. We both had hard things to say. At the end of the conversation, she text me to let me know that she loves me. Love was intertwined throughout our entire conversation, but it was seeing those words that both made me cry and brought me a profound sense of hope. Love wins. That's a popular slogan these days. But, does it really? At the end of the day, does love truly win? In a world filled with red cups, bathroom dilemmas, a disastrous political culture, and every day life, are we loving? Does love win? My friend and I needed to have that conversation today. We both needed to say what was on our hearts. We both needed to hear what the other had to say. We spoke of our concerns, struggles, and hurts through a tiny little screen and typed letters. Emotions and intentions were misconstrued. Face-to-face conversations are rare these days. Instant messaging, email, and t...

I heard a pastor once say that he wished the term, "full-time ministry" would be abandoned. His point was that we get so wrapped up in that title that we, as Christ-followers, give all the responsibility of the church over to those who get paid to do ministry. On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be goi...

I was sitting on my bed admiring the TV that hung on the wall. I have wanted our TVs hung since we moved into this house. I have three boys and visions of Nerf wars gone wrong ending in a shattered TV swirled in my head. Not to mention the idea of a TV falling on someone. So, with that being said, I was happily relieved when the TVs were hung. As I sat there staring at the beauty of that TV safely on the wall, I began to wonder if the wall could actually hold such a heavy object. All looked great on the outside. The anchors in place. The screws screwed tight. But, what was on the inside of that wall and could it withstand the weight of the TV? My mind wanders to crazy and far off lands sometimes. Stick with me. As I began to wonder about the capacity of the wall to hold such a hefty object, I thought about us and our faith. The outside looks good. We look put together and strong. But what's going on on the inside? Do we have a strong foundation to hold the weight of all that ...

I wasn't feeling it today. I was having one of those "my self-image is low" kind of days. The kind of day where nothing you put on is comfortable and everyone else looks like a supermodel. Ya, it was one of those days. I was blow drying my hair and turned around to lean on the counter. I looked ahead and saw two signs. Both slayed my heart. I see these signs multiple times a day. One sits in my bathroom and was given to me as a gift from a dear friend. The other I bought a few years ago and hangs above our bed. I see them every single day. I probably read them and don't even realize it. But today, today was different. Something about reading those words annihilated my soul. "You are loved." "Loved Beyond Measure." I never even noticed that the signs had such similar sayings. They stare at me every day yet I never let those words radiate the way they did today. Today, of all days, when I was feeling the yuck and the ugly and the insecure. Toda...