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In my devotional I read: Mary must have been utterly exhausted. Joseph was certainly deeply stressed. Christmas BEGAN with overwhelmed parents. I wrestle with the fact that God created the scenario where His chosen would be heavy and burdened and inconvenienced to say the least. And also, 10000% in the middle of His perfect plan. Can we go here? In some ways God left them at the end of their best efforts, at the end of obedience, at the end of doing everything right: birthing a child they didn’t even create, in a barn. The first Christmas. Stressed, tired, overwhelmed,...

It was a glamorous trip!  A week in the most glorious ocean on a catamaran.  It was pinch-yourself-boujee: Endless food. Intentional hosts. Quality time with my man. New friends who were there for adventure and connection. It was magical.  But like most fairy tales, there was unavoidable turmoil under the veil of perfection.  Half of the people on our boat were soon green with seasickness.  The first couple of days were the worst.  They had sea sickness patches behind their ears and meds that knocked them out.  They came prepared with an arsenal of prevention and preparation.  But the thing...

I say yes….it's my favorite word.  That's how we ended up on a catamaran for a week in the British Virgin Islands.  In full transparency, saying yes sometimes means I sleep on a stranger's floor.  It's not always boujee, but this time it was.   It's an adventure marriage sailing trip--one of the many ways Winshape invests in healthy marriages.  Our buy-in was minimal; they took care of the rest.   I'm still not sure how to unpack the week.  Brad and I went into it wondering if it was a mistake to say yes.  Long-term areas of our lives that have...

I'm antsy.  I'm doing everything right, but the mountains aren't moving.  If they are, it's so slow it's hard to see.  What makes mountains move?  Earthquakes and water: instant and catastrophic or slow and majestic. Take your pick.  Once I have an idea or make a change, I long for it to happen fast. Our culture is conditioned to believe we deserve quick results.   The lies we tell ourselves can cost us our dreams.  The mountain view teaches me how devastating a fast yes can be.  "Earthquakes" happen.  We can all pinpoint the moment when chaos struck in an instant.  Life shook, and everything...

PART 3   The light draws me, the hope on the other side.   I see shimmers through the tree branches—the exciting new growth finally evident after the agonizing wait—the tree I planted with tiny faith in the good soil of prayer and fasting.  As the roots show the magnitude of their impact, mountains fall away.  Large and looming, cold and impassable suddenly melt?  Crumble?   I realize I don’t even care where they went or how they moved; I am mesmerized by the other side.    Is this how the Israelites felt when God allowed them to cross into...