I believe it is vital to maintain a clear sense of direction in life. Each day contains both routine and the unexpected, and without an inner compass it’s easy to become disoriented. In Roman times, soldiers relied on a standard  to find their bearings in the chaos of battle. The standard was a visible point of reference — a pole bearing the symbol of the Roman army — used to signal when to advance, halt, retreat, or regroup. It unified the troops, strengthened morale, and re

The passing of Rob and Michelle Reiner touched a tender part of my heart this past month. My own family has dealt generationally with extreme examples of mental illness, resulting in institutionalization at times. There comes a point, especially with parents, where we must seek external support since we can’t handle the magnitude of the illness within the home.  We cannot fathom the mind of Almighty, but we can recognize that he gives us strength in hardship, “For God has no

I recently had to say no to someone I love. It wasn't an unreasonable no--the request exceeded the logistical capacity of the space they were asking to utilize. My instinctive reaction to the disappointment written on someone's face is to soothe; and usually soothing means I overstep my own boundary to rectify the situation. This time, I held the line. I affirmed my friend's emotions, but I maintained the boundary. Fences aren't just gatekeepers; they're protectors. To be a g

“To live is Christ, to die is gain.” Paul represents the most surrendered of us, completely willing to lay down his life for the gospel. But for us in a modern world, living in a country that allows us to practice our faith freely, what does laying down one’s life look like? The simple in answer, in my experience, is something intangible yet pervasively present: my will. How I get things done, why I want them, and the timeline in which they occur. Achievements, attention, acc

The world runs on never-ending scoreboards. From childhood report cards to performance reviews in the workplace, we’re constantly being ranked, measured and compared. Now, in the era of social media, the metrics of success are likes, shares and public recognition. This external validation can become so addictive, that you can easily start to believe that your value fluctuates with your performance/outcomes and what other people think about you. For example, a promotion can ma

“…out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth”. These words from Casting Crown’s song "Voice of Truth" echoed so loudly in my head recently when I was deep in thought about the impacts of childhood trauma. Our earliest relationships teach us a lot about ourselves. From our relationships in the family or at school, ideally, we learn that we are lovable, safe and valuable. However, when those foundational relationships are mar