Latest on the Blog
When I Set Down Lent Painting
You may have noticed a lapse in painting videos recently. This is the explanation. Sometimes you have to say no, especially when something becomes a have to rather than a want to. I have loved painting for Lent, but this year is different. It became more chore than...
I have False Refuges
So much I’m learning in this season. My anxiety has quadrupled, it seems. I’m learning how I have chased after false refuges. Finances: when all is well, they bring peace. When they’re in flux, my stomach roils. Home: it’s typically been my place of peace and retreat,...
Jesus Doesn’t Need our Sparkle
This morning I read from @ct_mag : "What the Asbury Revival Taught Me about Gen Z" by Kevin Brown. In it, he writes about the worship teams who participated. "Without being directed, they played from the side of the stage, outside the spotlight. This was consistent...
The Church is not a Corporation
Ever since we began our marriage planting a church, we have been studying and observing church. We have experienced so many amazing bodies of believers all over the world, from French speakers in Montreal, to a group of students in Vietnam, to the wealthy of Monaco to...
How Letting Go of Things Helps us Let Go of Toxic Relationships
Recently I thought about how easy it has become for me to discard things that are no longer serving us or our home. I apply this William Morris' quote quite liberally: 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful' Honestly,...
Happy Anniversary to us!
Today my husband Patrick and I celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary! (Our marriage is as old as Jesus was!) Happy Anniversary to us! We met in Tacoma, WA at a little church that had a heart for missions. I had returned from a one-person (me) mission trip for six...
We are not meant to understand evil
I did something incredibly NON-MARY this last week. I quit something. As I mentioned, I was doing the NANOWRIMO challenge, writing a novel in the month of November. Because I am a seat of the pants writer, I wasn't sure where the story was heading. But when I wrote...
Vulnerability? It’s a superpower
I shared with someone an instagram post that got a lot of traction (I'll paste it below), and they said, "I would never be that open online." I know it's a sacrifice, and I certainly don't navigate it easily, but I replied, "It's so people don't feel alone." For me,...
Need a new worship playlist?
I'm walking through a season in my relationship with God and his church to the point that overused worship songs fall flat to me. For whatever reason, I can't seem to participate in them, and so many of the internal messages of modern worship songs are about me-me-me....
The Problem of Exceptional Thinking
"I'll be the exception to the rule." This is the kind of thinking that has stolen my joy. For years. Some examples: "Planting a church in France is hard. It's known as the missionary graveyard." Surely not! (But oh it was, and we were not the exception to the rule....
Want a restory?
We all want to live better stories, don’t we? I know I do. Part of discerning your new story is looking back on your past and figuring out patterns that were destructive and led you down frustrating paths. And it’s also helpful to celebrate the wins too. Let’s just...
What to do if you’re misunderstood
This article has its roots in one of my latest books, The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible. ... A few years ago, I walked through a difficult misunderstanding with a loved one. No matter what I did, I could not convince them of my innocence, nor did any sort of...