The Role of Accountability in Balance
For over 20 years, running partners made sure I regularly completed the miles needed for my goals. In recent years, I meet with a Godly woman from church for Biblical accountability. In writing,...
View ArticleAging Gracefully
Every year as my birthday nears, I struggle with aging. Actually, I continually battle the thought of aging but fixate on it more when I must actually add to the number that captures the reality. Yeah,...
View ArticleHow to Live a Long, Good Life
It’s NOT About the Numbers Current weight. Weight lost. Weight gained. Calories burned. Calories consumed. Miles ran. Miles biked. MPH. All numbers that could easily steal my life’s focus. Add into the...
View ArticleThe Physical has SOME Value
Living in the Extremes Some people give their physical bodies a lot of focus from extremes with exercising, weight lifting & dieting to an obsessive focus on appearances through things like...
View ArticleStruggling for Unity
Achieving and sustaining real, productive unity seems more and more like grabbing a handful of water these days. Sure, we see glimpses of people uniting for a cause or to accomplish a specific task or...
View ArticleThe Babel of Unity
Most Christians know that God desires unity. We’ve also likely experienced the effects of disunity on individual as well as group effectiveness. So we get the basic concept that unity is good, and...
View ArticleAre You Using A Broken Compass?
In Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow, and at times others too, uses what initially appears to be a broken compass to achieve his goals. Turns out, the compass points to what the holder...
View ArticleBe Prepared
“Got your food bar and water bottle?” “Yep.” “What about your spikes?” “Yep.” So went the conversation just before my son left for school the day of his first track meet of the season. I wanted him to...
View ArticleBelieving is Seeing
Until the recent past, shopping existed as therapy and a way to for a least a little while forget about life’s struggles. I loved finding good deals and saving money on unplanned purchases. Loved the...
View ArticleBE Encouraged
God gives Christians a variety of ways to receive encouragement, including through scripture, through the Holy Spirit and through fellowship with other Christians. All of these provide consistent and...
View ArticleAssessing Your Armor-Wearing Habits
Spiritual Heaviness About every other time I get my teeth cleaned, the hygienist takes x-rays of my mouth. Before she takes them, she puts a lead blanket over my torso to protect my vital organs from...
View ArticleStability Amidst Constant Change
Strange Things Are Happening Wrinkles. Slowing metabolism. Almost constant aches and pains. Physical changes resulting from aging. Driving. Dating. Independence. Teen boys growing into adults. Life’s...
View ArticleConvenient Confusion
Whey my boys were younger, they were quick to say, “I’m sorry” when they messed up. Sometimes, they said it for the millionth time about the same mistake. When this happened, my response sounded...
View ArticleAnticipation
Pleasurable Anticipation Anticipation can be pleasurable expectation or filled with apprehension. It involves contemplation and hope, and it serves to create a foresight or foretaste of future events....
View Article5 Ways to Thrive Under Construction
In Michigan, there’s always some sort of road construction going on somewhere. They say you can’t drive more than 6 miles from any point in Michigan without coming to a lake (there are 11,000 inland...
View ArticleStruggling for Simplicity
Do you long for simplicity? In the chaos and confusion of overwhelm and overload, do you instinctively know your life wasn’t meant to be this way? Our bodies crave simplicity. They long for whole foods...
View ArticleA Higher Standard
If you are truly Playing to Win, you must learn to seize God-ordained opportunity, work hard and stay humble, and develop a laser focus for God. Missionary Jim Elliot captured this mindset when he...
View ArticleEaster Memories
Easter Memories Easter Sunday holds a prominent place in my childhood, church-going memories. The smell of Lilies. New clothes. The Easter bonnet my mom wanted me to wear and that I hated. Easter...
View ArticleMore Books Than Time
Some people feel the need to finish every book they start. I do not. I will start and not finish a book if it’s poorly written. I’ll also stop reading it if it just does not click with me for any...
View ArticleDigesting God’s Word
Most of us read Scripture for our own specific purposes. We search for knowledge, inspiration, direction, comfort and wisdom. We have a problem, and we want guidance on how to handle it. Or, we’re...
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