What's the first emotion that comes to mind when you think of God? If you said "love," there's a good reason. 1 John 4:8 says, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." But is it possible to jump too quickly to the "love" part, to the exclusion of God's other feelings? Do we realize he has other feelings? We can sometimes do our Heavenly Father a disservice by seeing him as a jolly grandfather, patting us on the head and filling our pockets with candy, content to send us on our way and forget about the hard work of shaping our characters. The clever Continue Reading
How Taking a Chill Pill Makes You Better than Royalty
Ever had one of those days when even the cat leaves the room because of your attitude? I'm not proud to admit this has been true in my house. Contemporary life is full of pressure. We all face a multitude of decisions, responsibilities, and distractions on any given day. Bills, traffic, technology breakdowns ... it's a bit much, even without added crises. If you're like me, you might give in to the occasional temper tantrum. Maybe you're restrained enough not to actually break anything or hurt anyone, but your countenance, your body language, your tone are ... well, not exactly fun Continue Reading
3 Reasons It’s Important to Grieve after Miscarriage
The daylight looked all wrong for a June morning in Las Vegas. The sun should have been so bright I'd need to angle the blinds to keep it out. Instead, it looked weak and pale, though there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Turns out, the moon eclipsed the sun that day. Just as sorrow eclipsed my soul. Days earlier, twenty weeks pregnant, I'd received devastating news from my midwife. "I'm so sorry, but the ultrasound technician couldn't find a heartbeat." She went on to explain something about fetal demise at seventeen weeks. I struggled to process her words. No heartbeat. Fetal Continue Reading
How a Timid Girl Gained a Voice for the Voiceless
Remember that shy kid in your grammar school class? The timid, sensitive kid who was anxious to follow the rules and get good grades? The last kid you’d go to for help if a bully picked on you? That kid was me. Not that I was apathetic; it’s just that my feelings had a hard time finding their way out of my mouth. It’s like I was wired with perpetual inner conflict between my strong values and my distaste for conflict. Does that sound familiar? The one place I found I could pour out my heart without holding back was with pen and paper. A sixth grade essay, a smattering of Continue Reading