What to Do When You Wake Up at 3 A.M. and Cannot Fall Back Asleep
At 3:12 she was awake again. The red numbers on the clock glowed across the dark room, and her husband’s slow breathing was the only other sound. Nothing had woken her. No noise, no child, no storm. Her mind had simply opened like a door and let in…
This Week’s Verse: Why “Be Still” Was Spoken in the Middle of a War
This is where we land every Sunday: one verse, looked at slowly, with attention to what it meant when it was first written and what it asks of us now. He found the poster on the waiting room wall at two in the afternoon, a calm lake at sunrise with three…
An Open Letter: To the Woman Who Feels Guilty for Resting
This is where we land every Saturday: one open letter, written to one person in one specific moment. If someone came to mind as you read this one, send it to her. Dear friend, I think I know where you are sitting right now. Not the exact spot, but close.…
The Friday Wind-Down: You Are Allowed to Enjoy This Weekend
This is where we land every Friday afternoon, a short pause before the weekend actually begins, and a chance to set the week down on purpose. A Thought to Sit With Think about the last free Saturday you had. Somewhere between the first cup of coffee and…
Teaching Yourself to Grieve a Friendship That Faded Without a Fight
He scrolled past an old photo on his phone one evening, himself and a friend who had once called nearly every day, standing together at a wedding neither of them could quite remember the exact year of anymore. They had not spoken in over two years. No…
Your Disappointment Does Not Make God a Liar
He had trusted his pastor for nearly fifteen years, a man who baptized his children, sat with him through his father’s funeral, and preached the same steady, faithful message week after week. When the truth finally came out, years of hidden…
When You Feel Numb Instead of Grateful During the Good Moments
She watched her daughter blow out birthday candles, surrounded by family, everything about the moment genuinely good, and felt almost nothing at all. No warmth rising in her chest, no tears, none of the emotion she expected to feel and had felt at…
Teaching Yourself to Rest From Decision-Making, Not Just Work
He took a full day off from his job, genuinely free of any work task, and still ended the evening exhausted in a way rest was supposed to prevent. Looking back over the day, he counted at least forty separate decisions he had made before noon alone, what…
The Friday Wind-Down: The Week You Cannot Undo Is Already Over
This is where we land every Friday afternoon, a short pause before the weekend actually begins. A Thought to Sit With By Friday afternoon, this week has already happened. Whatever went well is finished. Whatever went badly is finished too, however much…
What to Pray When You Are Angry at God and Not Sure That Is Allowed
He sat in his car in the hospital parking lot for twenty minutes after visiting hours ended, unable to start the engine, and the prayer that finally came out of him surprised him with how sharp it sounded. “Why would You let this happen to…