I sat at a stoplight, trembling with anxiety’s rattle and hum. The sky was bleak with charcoal clouds seemed to mirror my soul. The familiar fog of depression had rolled in and I was weary of the struggle. It was exhausting: wrestling to be whole, never shaking the bone-deep loneliness. The fog formed a dense […]
I found joy for the first time 10 years ago in a perfect, Parisian spring. Paris is every bit as magical as you’ve heard, but perhaps not in all the ways you’d expect. It’s still a filthy, crowded urban area. Traffic is ridiculous and there are homeless people in desperate need of help and racial […]
It was like hearing the old story for the very first time, there in that makeshift Welsh church. I was living in Paris and it was quintessential spring, with cherry blossoms on the Champs-Elysee and girls in sundresses laying out in the parks. Ten years ago and just like yesterday, you know? But despite the […]
Today, we remember the day that God put on skin. It’s in every corner of the story, the crimson thread that runs with astonishing consistency. He’s coming for the broken, the shamed, the burdened, the unknown. Reading: John 1:1-18, 1:29 Song: Behold the Lamb of God and The Theme of My Song by Andrew Peterson […]
Unreliable. Liars. Thieves. Unclean. The words echo, but not across the dark field. The words are inside, and the shepherds can’t escape. They’re caked with the grime of their work and a stigma that’s never quite washed away. /// Reading: Luke 2:8-20 and 4:18-19 Song: While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Andrew Peterson* /// […]
Long months have passed. The wait is almost over. She’s kept Elizabeth’s words tucked in her heart, pulling them out when she needed them: “You are blessed, blessed for believing the Lord would fulfill His promises to you.” Reading: Luke 2:1-7, Matthew 11:28-30 Song: Labor of Love by Andrew Peterson /// Mary never imagined the […]
The promises have been spoken. There’s a child coming, and something great beyond understanding is underway. Reading: Today, there is no reading.We’re in between the announcements and the fulfillment. We’re sitting in the tension, so let’s take a moment to reflect. Whatever connected with your heart, take some time to remember God is with you […]
He remembered standing under the canopy with his bride. His heart swelled as he passed the cup of covenant for her to drink, showing her commitment to join their lives. From that day on, they were husband and wife. Then Joseph went to prepare a place for her. /// Reading: Matthew 1:18-25 Song: It Came […]
The coming began with a miracle. And it began with erasing shame. Before Mary and Joseph encountered angels, before the birth in Bethlehem, there was another birth. Zechariah and Elizabeth had done everything right:they were faithful, upstanding, close to God. Zechariah was a priest who stood blameless before the Lord – not perfect, but repentant […]
Reading: Hosea 2:8 & 11:1-8* Song: So Long, Moses by Andrew Peterson* The first promise was in Genesis, hot on the heels of the first betrayal: a woman’s seed and a bruised heel, but the serpent would be crushed. The lying mouth would one day be silenced. They come again throughout the years, these promises […]
