Sometimes we can make this life with God feel so difficult, so heavy, so complicated.

But this morning, as I was sitting quietly and finishing a passage in Scripture, I was reminded of how simple Jesus makes it.

In Luke 7, Jesus encounters a woman who had a past. A checkered past. A woman who had made decisions she likely wished she could take back. And honestly, as I read her story, it sounded familiar. It sounded like me. It sounded like all of us in one way or another.

Golf Without Par

As I think about a game that I love—and one that has taught me a great deal about life—I often reflect on golf.

Golf is unique among sports because there is always a number attached to every hole. That number is called par. It is the score that represents what success is supposed to look like.

Perfect Timing

A few years ago, I first met Gary and Susan after Gary shared at our church about the work God was doing through Venture Nias in Indonesia. Their faith and obedience were inspiring. Lives were being changed in a faraway place because they had said yes to the leading of the Great Shepherd.

March 3

As I look back over my journey with the Lord, I can see how consistently He has led me back to one place for answers, for direction, for comfort — His Word. I remember hearing a great evangelist from England say it this way: “If you want to hear from God, read your Bible. If you want to hear from God audibly, read your Bible out loud.” There is something about speaking His Word that settles the heart and steadies the soul.

I remember exactly where I was. I was driving in Orlando, Florida, coming off the turnpike and making a long, sweeping turn underneath the freeway. As I rounded the curve, I noticed a pond off to the right. At that exact moment I was listening to a pastor teaching about casting our cares upon the Lord. He explained that the word cast is not a passive word. It is physical. It means to throw, to hurl, to deliberately lift something off of yourself and release it. Not gently set it down. Not temporarily hand it over. But to rid yourself of it.

Years ago, I heard a man named Ken Poure share a story that has stayed with me ever since.

Ken and his wife, Melba, spent more than fifty years serving at Hume Lake, a place many consider the largest Christian youth camp in America. But before all of that—before the influence, the leadership, the legacy—there was a young man, newly married, who didn’t yet know the Word of God in any deep way. As Ken would say with humility and humor, the pages of his Bible were still stuck together.

Sunday marked what would have been Hattie’s 24th birthday.

As I reflect back on her life with us—ten months and six days—I am reminded again of what the Word of God tells us: that the Lord has numbered our days. Scripture reminds us that before the foundations of the world were laid, God already knew Hattie, and He had already destined her life to be a gift to Laurie and to me.

Today marked a small but meaningful shift in travel history for me.

January 27 was the first day Southwest Airlines moved to assigned seating. When I booked this flight a couple of months ago, I had no idea today would be the day that change took effect.