A few years ago, my husband snapped this photo. It looks peaceful now. It felt fleeting then.
When I was young, I dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom. I imagined a cozy house, children always nearby, a kitchen that smelled like cookies and homemade dinners, and a life built around presence.
Continue reading “The Dream I Laid Down”
When I was seventeen, I had to appear in court for the first time after a terrible car accident. As a lifelong rule-follower, I was so nervous that when the judge called me forward, I blurted out “Your Highness” instead of “Your Honor.”
For years, that moment summed up how I imagined standing before God. I pictured the heavenly courtroom through the lens of guilt, shame, and the fear of doing something wrong before a holy Judge. But a few years ago, while reading Romans 8, the Lord gave me a different picture.
Continue reading “The Courtroom of Heaven”
Several years ago, I encountered the love of God while sitting in a closet.
I was feeling broken and defeated after years of trying (and failing) to pull myself together. I had been avoiding God for years, certain He wouldn’t want to talk to me anyways. But that day, curled up in my closet, I tentatively asked if it was possible for Him to still love me, “even though…”
Continue reading “Impossible to Stop”
My dad baptized me when I was a child, but I spent years doubting my salvation and wondering if it had worked. I would ask adults in my life if I was going to Heaven, and they always gave me the same response: I can’t answer that for you. As someone who likes black and white answers, I hated that nobody could assure me I was saved.
Continue reading “Doubting My Salvation”
I was out for a walk recently, listening to a sermon, when the following passage caught my attention:
“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” —Psalms 139:16-18
I was struck by the phrase, “How precious are your thoughts about me.” For some reason, I had never given much weight to the fact that God actually thinks about me. And not only that He thinks about me, but that His good thoughts for me outnumber the grains of sand.
Continue reading “Fixing My Thoughts on Him”
Grace Waves 