There’s a Chill Under Everything—Even on Perfect Fall Nights

I needed a blanket not for warmth but comfort. Hurricane Matthew took a thousand lives, the presidential debate felt like another storm, and under all our distractions—football games, festivals, forty flavors of chips—something isn't right. Teddy Roosevelt said character is indispensable. When we finally stop and feel the chill, that's where character gets built.

Why I Don’t Want Summer to End (And What God Taught Me About Letting Go)

As a teacher, I know I have to give up my heart to 120 new students. Here's what my nieces and a street preacher taught me about trusting the faces you can't see yet.

When Love Isn’t About Timing: Four Days Without My Prince Charming

I broke up with Charming over our timing conflict—I'm ready for marriage, he's not. But driving away in a storm, God ministered to me through worship music. Is he worth the wait?

Thirty Feet Underground, Granite Taught Me We’re All Tending the Wrong Garden

Spring cleaning attacked my surfaces—dust, pounds, garden blooms. Then water on granite in a wine cellar showed me what I couldn't see: we focus on visible beauty while our roots determine everything. Physical health doesn't reflect the emotional, spiritual, mental. What good is a clean house when you're six feet under?

Teaching Fairy Tales After Brussels: Why Tomorrow’s Heroes Are in My Classroom

After the ISIS attack in Brussels, I looked at my students writing fairy tales about villains and heroes. I don't understand terrorism, but I know the heroes who will save us are sitting in my classroom right now.

From Wedding Day Joy to Divorce: How Love Changes and Grace Remains

Seven years after my Valentine's Day engagement, I'm helping friends navigate their own marriage struggles. Here's an honest look at how 'I do' became 'goodbye'—and how God's grace followed even my hardest choices.

When Paradise Taught Me to Live in Parentheses: Finding Grace Between Sunset and Praise

I lost myself in a Bahamas sunset and found myself in the parentheses of praise. Sometimes the most profound resolutions aren't about changing—they're about noticing the abstract beauty that's been there all along, waiting for us to stop and worship.

When God Books Your Cruise: A Lesson in Divine Timing

Our cruise was booked solid until a computer glitch got us on board at the last minute. Sometimes what looks like a missed opportunity is just God showing you that with Him, no ship has sailed.