Overwhelm. I’ve got it. Ever been there? Maybe right now?  Then let me lay this on you...

I don’t know that I’ve ever yelled the name of Jesus as loudly as I did that day and without any shame whatsoever.

I don’t know that I’ve ever yelled the name of Jesus as loudly as I did that day and without any shame whatsoever.

Here’s the difference between me and Jesus: Jesus is available anytime; I might wait a day before I call you back.

Here’s exactly what I know about making bread: leathery ladies in the European countryside knead dough with their knotted knuckles for half a day whilst their stooped husbands slowly walk golden fields of waist-high wheat. Or else it’s made in a metal vat in a factory. 

God doesn’t abandon us. He also doesn’t remove every hard thing from our lives. But he does promise to always walk beside us, hanging close to lift us when we don’t have the strength to do it ourselves. 

I had finally removed the morning’s distractions and was pecking away at my keyboard when our miniature guard dogs lost their little minds...

Ugg. If just seeing the photos makes you feel like you could die, let me assure you that plenty of people are having awful holidays. Most people, maybe. Those people don't tend to photo-dump their day on social media. You are not alone. I tell you in all honestly our Thanksgiving was meh at best and awful at worst. And I don't have the photos to prove it.

It was a suck-it-up-for-Jesus culture in our Girls in Action club, so I suffered through another chorus of “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart.” I did not have the joy, joy, joy down in my heart.