If you’re exploring Christianity and don’t know where to begin, I recommend starting with John’s Gospel. It tells you what Jesus did for you through His death and resurrection and reveals His divine identity.  And crucially, it presents what some call the promise of life. Simply put, Jesus told people that if they believed in […]

Not everyone’s brains are wired the same. We consider some behaviors “normal” and other behaviors “atypical.” I’m thinking about things such as paying attention, reasoning, problem-solving, emotional control, comprehending texts, interpreting social cues, and sensitivity to sound and touch. Over the decades, we’ve learned more about the natural range of human behaviors and neurology. In […]

One of the hardest things about parenting is getting my kids to pay attention. Getting them to remember instructions has been very challenging. I know they’re capable of it. They have amazing memories…when they want to! They can remember, down to the penny, how much money I owe them for doing chores. Or they can […]

Are you still hopeful about the Christian life or are you just about ready to give up? Have you been burned out for so long that you’re not sure how much longer you can go on? You can get so beat down by sin that you don’t know what’s possible for Christ to do for […]

My day hadn’t started off well. Just before Christmas, I caught what Texans call “the crud.” It’s something that’s worse than a cold but not quite as bad as the flu. I had been coughing and headachy and had feverish dreams all night long. Aren’t fever dreams the weirdest? That night I dreamt I was […]

Have you made your New Years’ resolutions? What are you planning? Will you go to the gym regularly? Cut out carbs? Buckle down on learning that new language? Save more money? Drink more water and less alcohol? Read the Bible in a year? Do you know what those resolutions are? Laws. They’re little-“l” laws you […]

As my kids get older, it’s satisfying to see them do more and more on their own. Today, Daphne spent five hours working on a horse ranch. She won’t be paid any money; she’s earning riding lessons. At breakfast, Abby was teaching Scout how to make oatmeal. She already knows how to make the instant […]

Not so famous Amos wants to lead an army into battle or carry a king, but he's stuck carrying a pregnant woman to a small town called Bethlehem. Along the way, Amos learns a valuable lesson and discovers that he has an important role to play in the first Christmas. This fun Children's story will […]

All Christians are designed to be fruitful. Jesus compared us to branches on a vine, and in John 15:1-5, He presented four possibilities of fruitfulness: you can bear no fruit, some fruit, more fruit, or much fruit (see here). However, it is worth pointing out that you can take two very different approaches to the […]

I’m growing a Meyer lemon tree in a container in my kitchen. It’s inside the house because they’ll die in the cold, so it’ll stay in my kitchen until spring. I grew it from seed. It’s now a seedling with leaves, and I hope that, in a few years, it will start to flower and […]