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Every summer my Great Grandma Would host a Bible school on her large back porch for one week. It was called a five day club. A college kid would come for a couple hours every day that week and all the cousins and neighbor kids would gather around and hear stories and learn verses. We would have fun together and share a snack. These were some great core memories. I can almost feel the green paint of the porch Under my fingers as I type this. One of those summer morning a young

I have heard the verse, “All things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose,” but I haven’t always understood it. The phrase I often use for this is: trust the process. When I’m in the middle of a situation, it is often messy, exhausting, and confusing. I find myself thinking, How on earth can this possibly work together for anything good? For instance, over the years I have held several different jobs. One of those jobs was working with peopl

Is it a full moon? Was there no school this week? Was there a holiday that involved candy recently? These are the kinds of questions people in children’s ministry often ask on Sunday mornings. Sometimes, everything runs smoothly. The kids listen to the story, share precious prayer requests, and complete the craft perfectly. Other weeks… you’re just trying to keep things from turning into a full-on wrestling match. Like I’ve said in past blogs, this is a place I never saw myse

Do you know one of the easiest ways to extend the life of your car? Keep up with regular oil changes. Your tires need to be rotated regularly too. If you’ve ever worked somewhere with a maintenance department, you’ve probably heard the phrase routine maintenance more than once. But what happens if you skip those oil changes or ignore routine maintenance? Eventually, the machine will choose its own time to shut down—and it’s rarely convenient. Repairs often take longer, and th

When you hear of the word grief what comes to mind? Is it a funeral? Dying? Grief is so much broader than that is happens whe things end. It can happen in larger ending like a death, an ending relationship or as you watch your body change as you age. But did you know grief can happen during the happy times? Grief can happen doors open for you? As your baby grows as that season of babyhood, toddler good, kindergarten and childhood closes and ends. Grief can happen when you get

Have you ever caught yourself treating your faith like a checklist? I’m a rule follower. I never had detention in school. On the first day of college, when I got my syllabus, I would always plan out when I’d complete the big projects—well before the due date, of course. And let’s not even talk about how I feel when I see a police officer on the road. So when it comes to my faith, I can easily fall into the legalistic side of things. I can start to view the Bible as a list of

This weekend, we celebrated Easter. My family gathered together, sharing a meal and watching the six kids excitedly hunt for plastic eggs filled with little treasures. It was full of laughter and chaos—the kind of day you wish you could bottle up. But this year felt just a little different. This year, my dad is struggling with dementia. I can see that he’s having a harder time keeping up, and it’s changed the way I experience moments like this. I find myself slowing down, soa

I grew up in church, so there are certain buzzwords and phrases you hear often in that culture. One of those is spiritual warfare. It may sound dramatic at first, but the older I get, the more I realize—it’s not dramatic at all. It’s very real. I can feel it. There’s a tension deep within me, a pull on the very core of my being between two worlds. On one hand, there is a growing desire to draw closer and closer to God—to pursue a life that reflects what the Bible calls us to.

What is your perfect day? Mine is 70 degrees and sunny, with a nice breeze and flowers in bloom. But if every day were perfectly 70 degrees and sunny, I would begin to expect it—and I would no longer appreciate it. Where I live, we experience many seasons. We have spring, with its perfect days; summer, which grows hotter; fall, when the leaves become vibrant and beautiful; and winter, when it is chilly yet covered in pure, gorgeous snow. Life works much the same way. Life has

I don’t know about you, but I’m an incredibly anxious person. I’ve struggled with panic and anxiety attacks for years. Sometimes I know the cause, and other times I just have to ride it out. One thing I’ve learned over the years is this: I can’t fix anything by worrying about it. I can’t untangle a mess by overthinking. But I can find peace by handing it over to God. There are times when I need practical help, too. Sometimes that means talking to my doctor and getting medicat

I remember being a little girl, going to my great-grandma’s house and sitting on her porch swing—just visiting, without a care in the world. We would stop by unannounced and spend the evening together, unhurried and present. It was a restful season. It was a different time. I can’t imagine just dropping in somewhere now. Everything is so scheduled. We don’t just walk up to someone’s house, knock on the door, and spend a few hours together anymore. We are all so busy. And not

The Importance of Rules Have you ever played a game with a child who has a loose grip on the rules? It isn’t very fun, is it? The rules are what give a game structure. They make it enjoyable and help everyone understand how—and when—they’ve won. In the same way, rules are not meant to restrict us, but to create order and purpose. Boundaries in Life and Relationships Life and relationships work much the same way as a game—they need structure, rules, and boundaries. Without the

“ Really, Ali? Another mistake? Do you even pay attention? Are you dumb, or slow? Or is it something else?” “Seriously, that’s what you’re wearing today? Isn’t that a little tight around the middle since the baby? Maybe something a little less form-fitting?” “You’re slowing the group down. You’re so high-maintenance. When we go out, we have to accommodate all your physical needs, and you’re always in pain.” These were the constant thoughts that berated me—the labels that had

Put yourself in their shoes. Your best friend has been falsely accused—dragged into the middle of an angry riot. Beaten, spat on, mocked, and berated. And you? You feel worthless. Paralyzed by fear. He was always the one people turned to—the calm in the chaos. He made everything feel okay. And now he just stands there, taking it. He doesn’t defend himself. He doesn’t argue. Why? Then they accuse him, convict him, and sentence him to death in the most brutal and gruesome way i

Girls’ night at our house is sacred. It’s any time Daddy isn’t home—whether he’s out bowling, at a church meeting, or away for the night. Whatever the reason, it means one thing: it’s girls’ night! When girls’ night happens, we have our traditions. We turn on the Christmas lights that stretch across the ceiling, and they stay on until Daddy comes home. We wear matching pajamas, watch a movie in Mommy’s bed, and fall asleep there—until Daddy gets home and carries her back to h

We call it Good Friday—but there was nothing good about it. An innocent man was falsely accused, publicly mocked, brutally beaten, and executed in one of the most painful ways imaginable. There was nothing fair about it. Nothing just. Nothing that, at first glance, deserves to be called “good.” So why do we? Because what happened that day wasn’t just suffering—it was sacrifice. It was love in its purest, most unthinkable form. Jesus had the power to stop every second of it. H

Pop!! Hmmmm… what was that? The sound rang out in our living room right in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. Smoke filled the room. “Girls, run to the car!” Dad yelled, and all five of us rushed out of the house.The yard smelled of sulfur and flashed like a dance floor. Rain pelted our skin as three terrified children huddled in the car. We quickly drove to the other side of the block to our grandparents’ house, where we called the fire department. The firefighters confir

The place in between can feel overwhelming some days. I’m trying to walk my daughter through all her firsts while quietly wondering if I’m also walking through my dad’s lasts. My heart feels stretched tight between grief and excitement. Some days I don’t know what I’m supposed to do—celebrate, cry, or just scream at how unfair it all feels. I think about how I didn’t start my family until I was 34, and how my dad developed dementia so young… and now their timelines are collid

A common theme that kept coming to my attention this week was the infinite forgiveness of our God. The first time I saw this was in a Sunday school lesson I was preparing for my kids. We were talking about Adam and Eve— how they fell from a perfect relationship with God by doing the one thing He told them not to do. Although God allowed them to face the consequences of their sin, He didn’t abandon them. Instead, He began a plan of redemption—a plan that would ultimately res

Have you noticed how much easier it is to blend in with the crowd than to stand out? Have you noticed that peer pressure can still be just as tempting as an adult as it was when you were younger? I’d love to say this isn’t a struggle for me, but the truth is I want to be accepted by my peers just as much now at 40 as I did as a teenager. Maybe it’s giggling along with office gossip while quietly pushing down the thought that Christ would never say those things about another p