Parenting has a way of humbling you. It's amazing how quickly I started doing the things I said I'd never do as a parent. You know what helped me be ok with that? The bigger picture.

Somebody prayed for us today. I witnessed the proof through supernaturally joy-filled boys playing their ever-loving hearts out. It was a different kind of play. It was light... it almost made light.

I attended a groundbreaking ceremony for an orthopaedic unit at a children's hospital this week. Our church has given generously so children near and far can access exceptional medical care, so we were invited to commemorate this special moment.

We started a journey toward understanding our son's autism and nervous system disorder two years ago. We had all kinds of new limits to navigate but no rulebook to explain them.

I've been studying what it means to "intercede" as our church presses into the power of prayer. According to Webster, “intercede” means “to act between parties with a view to reconcile those who differ or contend; mediation." Intercession was a legal term before a spiritual one. It's all about delegation, authority and representation.

From SM Lockridge’s famous message…

It’s Friday. Jesus is praying. Peter’s a sleeping. Judas is betraying. But Sunday’s comin’.

It’s Friday. Pilate’s struggling. The council is conspiring. The crowd is vilifying. They don’t even know that Sunday’s comin’…

I've been reading through the table-turning, parable-telling Gospels and am sure I would have doubted Jesus as Messiah if I lived in His day. He wasn't the revolutionary warrior-Messiah people expected. He didn't come from high influence, and He never seemed to be in a hurry, no matter how hard-pressed things were.

Our autistic son is a noise-sensitive music lover. We gave him noice-canceling headphones and secondhand iPod shuffle. (We thought we were nailing it as parents.) Newsflash: Giving an mp3 player to a 4-year old who's never touched a device is a TERRIBLE idea.

It's been a regular week with regular highs and lows. I sat in traffic, made sandwiches, and went to parks. On Tuesday, an uninvited measure of dread crept into my spirit. I didn't want to face the normal, still-privileged problems that would present themselves that afternoon. I don't always remember to call my heart to worship during the monotonous moments. I don't often walk to the park with purpose and power.

A legislative bill aggressively moving forward mandates teachers to help students 12 years and older get abortions without telling their parents. Failure to assist a child's secret abortion results in jail time for the educator.

Moses was born into a death sentence. Through extraordinary circumstances, he was adopted into the same royal family that tried to kill him. Years later, that miracle baby became a murder and refugee. He fled from his identity. He was not a Hebrew slave nor deliverer. He was not Egyptian royalty. He became a foreign shepherd that didn't even have his own sheep. Still, God Almighty entrusted this miraculous, messy, murderous man of the fields to fulfill a 400 year prophecy.

We've received many heavy messages this week of loss, sickness, brokenness, financial need, loneliness and more. I want to shake my fists when seven-year olds are hospitalized, family members are gone too soon, businesses are closing, and fear is on the rise.

Today's Call to Worship is a call to action.

I boarded a South Africa-bound plane exactly 14 years ago today. I promised I'd be back in six months, although I hadn't purchased a return ticket. One year later, I returned briefly to raise missions support for a life I hadn't expected.

I have found myself in the beginning of my Bible at the beginning of a new year. The fall of man is the first account after creation, just three chapters in. Every page after is filled with God's pursuit of unbroken relationship with us, no matter the cost.

The anticipation of Christmas has been replaced by new year resolutions or choosing a word for the year. I am itching to sit down with a fresh journal to pray, think and hear God for 2024. My good intentions are superseded by my present conviction, however.

During this long school holiday, packed with celebration and summer heat, the best place for me to be is present with my children. The oldest turns 16 today and doesn't have many school holidays left. Our 4-year old's special needs require extreme availability, energy and pro-activity when therapies aren't available.

Yesterday was American Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday! Here's an excerpt I wrote on Thanksgiving 2014 while serving in rural South Africa.

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"She called me to tell me she was hungry. Like a child who comes home from school and cries, "Mom, we don't have anything to eat!" This child hasn't had a mom to cry to since she was 12, when she found herself alone in a shack with her 8-year old brother.

Celebrations are the punctuation of life.

Mornings, evenings, weekends, months, and years whiz by like a dizzying run-on sentence. They can feel like they drag on and on. Then suddenly it's over, and you've missed the point.

For me, gathering around meals, birthday cakes, Christmas trees and midnight countdowns create causeways of remembrance. We create intentional spaces to look at each other, look back, give thanks, look ahead, and look around. I'll always do the extra dishes, spend the extra time, and go the extra mile to punctuate a life that sees, remembers, attunes and gives thanks.

I have a birthmark on my left ankle that looks like an oversized freckle. My mom taught me the special mark made me "me". When I was a little girl, a store employee tried to help me when I wandered away from my mom in a Texas-sized Walmart. I knew I wasn't supposed to talk to strangers and my birthmark showed who I was. So I sealed my lips tightly together and fervently pointed to the dark brown spot on my ankle. Believe it or not, the employee couldn't help me. I was still lost, struggling to prove who I was. I was found when my mom came and said I belonged to her.

Sometimes I worry about our "YES" to remain in South Africa.

Chris and I wholeheartedly know God has authored every step of our story, and we are right where we are supposed to be. It is our joy to love and lead Southpoint Church.

I worry about the repercussions of my kids growing up without their grandparents, cousins, and extended family members. I wonder what it's like for foreign soil to be your only familiar soil.

Our church is learning what it means to be rescued, redeemed, restored and to rejoice in Christ. On Sunday, my husband said, "I want you to come face to face with what it means to be rescued by Jesus." He shared about "ugly-crying" at the gym recently when he heard musician, Zach Williams' rescue story.