I have mentioned elsewhere on this blog that God is not a genie beholden to our desires and dreams. He withholds many things, even good things, for our ultimate good and His ultimate glory (and the two are inextricably linked). Over the years, He has graciously and lovingly answered many of our prayers with a “No” or a “Not yet”. I don’t know why. I’m too small, too human to understand the unfathomable wisdom of a truly loving God. Why He sees fit to give some things and withhold others; why He gives children and takes some away; why He

  Know that phrase, “The days are long, but the years are short”? While this year certainly did feel short, many a day seemed to fly by faster than we wanted. The temptation to fill our lives with hurry is perhaps a uniquely modern, uniquely American issue. Maybe I’m wrong. In any case, we’re finding the pull getting stronger as our kids get older. Hurry to school, hurry with homework, hurry to this or that activity. Whenever we sit down (or in my case, stop rolling), our screens allure us with the promise of more productivity, which will lead to more

I often find myself complaining in my heart about the smallest of things: I ate breakfast a little later than usual because my caregiver was less experienced. An app I use was updated and I have to relearn how to use it. I didn’t sleep well in the night and nobody was able to help with my afternoon espresso shot.  Poor Lane. As I was whining to myself the other day, I was reminded of how seriously God takes His loving provision. A mere three days after God freed the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery, they were complaining about

December is usually the month when Emily searches online for the best deals on photo-laden Christmas cards and I write the text portion. You won’t be getting a Christmas card from us this year, but it’s not because we don’t care about you. The opposite is true! So many of you play an integral part in our life – our physical family, our church family, Nyra’s school, our Saint Johns community, our neighbors, and friends and strangers who pray for us. We’ll most likely be sending actual cards every couple years from now on, but this year serves as our

My last living grandfather – my mom’s dad – left this world of suffering and sorrow to join his Creator and Savior last month. He was 83 years old, but his death was sudden and unexpected, leaving us all reeling. I wanted to share with you some of the thoughts I journaled the morning after he passed, and some memories I shared at his funeral with the help of my brother. I’m sharing this for two reasons. One is to honor Papa Leonard by hopefully giving you a tiny taste of who he was. Another is to show how Christians