Who’s making resolutions? Maybe it’s carrying this new little Ladd or dreaming of seeing my mom for the first time in 6+ years when he arrives, but I’m bringing in the new year with some old fashioned nostalgia. Typically, there’s nothing I love more than sitting down with a fresh pack of colorful pens and a goal-setting guide. I dream, plan and pray.
This year, I woke up early to worship, read the Word and call my mom. I made my NaNa’s traditional southern New Year’s Day meal, and I’m just sticking with the important things in 2022. What about you? What’s your 2022 looking like?

Our Creator designed our lifetimes on earth to be marked by seasons, sunrises, and trips around the sun. We all share this reality, whether you feel inspired by turning to a fresh calendar page, bound by seemingly timeless circumstances, or wounded and limping out of 2021. God made time to matter to us, every day and year purposed and imprinted with His relentless love for you. (Psalm 139:16, Psalm 90:12)

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration! It was the first time Chris or I have EVER been to church on Christmas Day - and we’re the pastors now! In America, we grew up attending Christmas Eve services and staying home on Christmas morning for a special family celebration - opening presents at the crack of dawn in your pjs, breakfast afterward, and then playing the day away at home.

We had to re-imagine Christmas for our family this year as we had the honor of hosting our first Christmas morning service as lead pastors at Southpoint Church!

Merry Christmas Eve! I hope your Christmas Day is filled with joy, laughter and wonder. Many are feeling extra strain or pain this holiday season. That's ok too... because it's really not ALL about Christmas. There's more to our Savior than one miracle in a manger or a date in December.

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is sweeping through South Africa - not very dangerous, but very contagious! Many are traveling and visiting family, so Chris made the call this week to have church online only to protect our volunteers and members. The goal is to keep everyone safe and healthy so we can enjoy Christmas together as a church and with our families!

The boys and I stayed home and watched “Daddy on TV”. Benjamin stood directly in front of the TV for part of it, screaming, “Daddy said Jesus! Daddy said Moses!”…

Eight years ago, my life looked VERY different than it does now. I was a single mom and missionary in a rural area of South Africa. I drove a bright red Condor through townships every day, discipling families and sharing life with them.

I found myself battling for joy during the Christmas season of 2013, determined not to let circumstances prevail, even though the hits kept coming. I wrote JOY with chalk on a big rock outside of the one-room cottage I shared with Lifa and was determined to keep it.

A poem I wrote about a strikingly juxtaposed Christmas Eve I had popped to mind this year and seemed strangely relevant to the reality the whole world has been in for the last two years. I wanted to remember it here with you today. Love you all!

Spoiler Alert: THE WHOLE WORLD.

Insider Secret: One of the reasons Chris chose to do this sermon series was because of the epic turkey video that went along with it. (You can find it at 24:20.) But the OTHER reason he chose this series was because it’s an eye-opener that makes the Christmas story bigger, better and so much more than you might have thought. I think you’re going to love it.

The holidays are here! There are functions, finales, and gatherings galore. We play the songs, make the meals, and wrap the gifts. But what for?

There are many good reasons for the hustle and bustle, and celebratory traditions hold a special place in my heart. This year, God is whispering to me through the jingle-jangle, "Don't miss the miracle."

How many inspiring and life-giving sermons have you heard about death recently? We’ve got one! It really is! Death has touched us all, and no one is exempt from it. Part of death is sad news, part is bad news, but this week Chris shared on the good news about it too. He talked about what Jesus thinks about death and what He did about it. (Spoiler alert: defeated it once and for all!)

My toddler and teenager are both on hair-raising missions to establish their identities. My sons are drawing lines, testing boundaries, and discovering strengths, weaknesses, preferences and purpose within our family system. They are right on track developmentally! People in every stage of life are on that same plight of finding themselves. Feedback from relationships, success, social media, or past experiences often draw the boundary lines of who people are or the worth they believe they behold.

Chris is in the middle of a fascinating series of flipping the “bad words” in church upside down to expose them for what they really are when Jesus enters the picture: Good News! In this week’s message on judgment, he shares very good news on judgment. Can you imagine showing up for Judgment Day, and the only thing your Heavenly Father can see are the good things? Because of Jesus, the sin and not so good things were obliterated on the cross. God can’t even remember them! Jesus did not come to judge you. He came to rescue you! Enjoy this encouraging message.

My heart is still overflowing from Thanksgiving. We had a traditional American Thanksgiving celebration with two South African families on Saturday. Generosity and pumpkin pie flowed freely. I still can't stop smiling!

Abundant feasting, laughter and love is the perfect way to kick off the holiday season. I could easily keep myself busy wrapping presents and planning parties for Christmastime, but that long, slow feast (and all that goes into preparing it) pivot me toward true joy first.

I can’t believe I’ve been hosting Southpoint Prays online every week for almost a year! We’ve gone through highs and lows, lockdowns to varying degrees and a lot of life together as a church this year, and it’s been very powerful to have a weekly checkpoint. Every Thursday at 8pm, we gather live online on Facebook to remember Sunday’s teaching, get refueled by the Holy Spirit, and pray for what’s going on in our lives in realtime.

The festive season is upon us! For some, it stirs up awe and wonder. For others, it's a fresh wave of grief or painful memories. No matter what, this time of year can get extra full. Calendars, expectations and to-do lists are filling at rapid speed.

Thanksgiving is my FAVORITE holiday. I will be teaching a Bible study on gratitude this morning and trying not to dream of pumpkin pie while I do it. We will have a Thanksgiving celebration of our own on Saturday, and I can't wait!

The good news is STILL good news! His name is Jesus. Chris continues flipping “scary” words with the Truth. Jesus turned death to life, and made the words that seem scary (like repentance) turn into beautiful blessings for our good. My favorite part this week was learning that repentance means “change your mind” and NOT “change your heart.” Science has proven our minds are renewable. All we have to do is set them on Truth every day. Before we know it, we will be brand new! God is the only One who can change our hearts, and as we change our minds - the heart follows! Jump into this freeing invitation today!

I made a costly, mindless mistake yesterday that left me spiraling into shame. Soon after, I had to prepare for a prayer session with my church, still battling darkness within. I was teaching myself and my church about Jesus revoking our condemnation. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Rom 8:1 NIV) I had to keep reading until I could give the Word of God some power over the assailment in my mind.

I love when my man goes Bible nerdy and starts speaking Greek! We all learned some cool stuff in this one!

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." I've always thought about renewing my mind as an illusive thing, mastered only by people who write books about it. I've always wanted to renew my mind, but never realized I already do every day. We all do

We’ve all been through dark nights. We’ve all been to rock bottom. But what do you do the next morning? What is your go-to when you get the first glimpse of light after your darkest day? It matters.