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Go Ahead and Wear Your Fat Pants: How to Love Your Body the Way it is
Don’t pretend you don’t exactly which pair I’m talking about. I have them. You have them. They sit folded in the bottom dresser drawer, and we only break them out when our winter waistlines increase, in week seventeen of our pregnancies, when going to visit our grandmothers, or when we just want to be comfortable for once! Yes, they are our precious fat pants, and if you’re like me, you have a love-hate relationship with these pants. I’m learning to embrace the skinny jean trend. My favorite thing about skinny jeans is that the bottom of my pant legs don’t drag on the wet cement of parking lots, and they…
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4 Ways God Wants to Transform Your Mind for Deeper Joy
Wolf Creek is overflowing its banks, and this normally languorous stream is raging with terrifying ferocity. The ice that covered the creek all winter is breaking up and crashing downstream with thunderous intensity. It seems this quiet creek is resisting the transformation, and I get to thinking that letting God transform your mind often requires a similar kind of reshaping. Letting God Transform Your Mind Listening closely, I hear a guttural grinding noise coming from the depths of the creek. I watch as a crack in the submerged ice layer widens, eventually allowing an enormous chunk to break free and cascade downstream. One piece at a time, the ice is…
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5 Things to Do When You Feel Empty Inside
The golden abundance of autumn has been swallowed by the monochrome grey of winter now. As I gaze into the ashen landscape, I wrestle with an aching question about what to do when you feel empty inside. Plenty of friends have encouraged me to turn to Christ in my empty moments, but can we be real for just a moment and admit that this isn’t always easy? When You Feel Empty Inside Opening my Bible isn’t always satisfying. Closing a door to pray feels like work. Sometimes, pursuing traditional spiritual disciplines feels like too much work at the end of a long day. (Read here if you can relate.) We…
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How to Be Satisfied in Jesus When You’re Struggling in Life
The lake is flat and grey today. The surrounding hills roll lavender beneath an ashen sky, and I pray for just a glimpse of blue overhead. I’m here because I long to be satisfied in Jesus, especially when the winter season feels like it might last forever. I close my eyes and ask God to speak to my soul. I want to know how to be content when the landscape of my days seems desolate. A startling truth settles upon me as a red-tailed hawk cries out to its Maker: I can spend all day seeking an emotionally riveting encounter with God by this water, and I might sense his…
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How to Encounter God in Your Ordinary Moments
I’m not thinking about how to encounter God as I wash the crusty marinara sauce from a plate that sat too long. Sweet Bekah comes to me in my silent revelry and wraps her little arm around my thigh. “Come with me, Mommy,” she beckons. “Just as soon as I finish these dishes,” I tell her. “No, Mom—now. You have to come now,” she begs. She’s been playing on the deck, and I’m sure there’s a caterpillar making an escape or a tower built from rocks on a patio chair. I really just want to clean the kitchen. Nonetheless, when I look into those sparkling blue eyes, I surrender my…