Tag Archives: love

I Hate July.

There is a version of my father that exists on paper. It lists the facts of him the way facts do, accurately and without warmth. This is not that version. This is the one where he drove a demon out of his daughter’s house without flinching, opened his blue eyes one last time for her and nobody else, and taught her without ever once saying so that love is not a feeling you manage. It is a decision you make and keep making. I learned that in five days in July. I have never loved any other way since.

Verse & Vision | June 23, 2026

Ektenē — the Greek word for “deeply” in 1 Peter 4:8 — means stretched to full extension, a muscle held at capacity. And kalyptei — covers — is present tense. Ongoing. Not a one-time pardon but a continuing choice. Peter isn’t describing polite tolerance or the suppression of truth. He’s describing love that absorbs damage rather than amplifying it, that refuses to make a wound larger than it already is. Above all, he says. Before anything else on the list. Get this one right.

Verse & Vision | June 12, 2026

We have made 1 Corinthians 13 into a wedding reading. Paul wrote it to people in a church fight. Not people in love — people in conflict, jockeying for status, eating communion bread while others went hungry. Every descriptor in verse 4 is a behavior, not a feeling. Patient. Kind. Not envious. Not boastful. Not proud. Five choices. None of them romantic. All of them available to you today, in the next conversation you have, with the next person who tests you. This is what love looks like when Christ is the source of it.

The Fourth Cup | Daily Bread

Someone told me to look up the fourth cup. So I did. What I found locked into place something I had already sensed was true – that there is a literal thread running from the upper room straight to the cross, held together by a cup Jesus deliberately did not drink. This is not symbolism. This is the most purposeful love story ever told.

Sunday Sessions | Mothers

God reaches for motherhood to describe the most tender dimension of His own love toward us. That is not accidental. And yet we live in a time when the nurturing instinct has been systematically taught out of women, traded for hardness and called liberation. What was lost in that exchange is something the world cannot name but feels the absence of everywhere it looks.

Speaking Truth Is Not the Same as Judging | Daily Bread

To say “don’t judge” sounds humble. It sounds gracious. But underneath it is a confusion that quietly does harm to the very people it wants to protect. Speaking truth is not, in and of itself, judgment. And the kindest thing anyone can do for someone caught in sin is not to make them comfortable in it — it is to point them toward the One who can wash it clean.

Grief is Praise: The Sacred Work of Loving What We’ve Lost | Daily Bread

We live in a culture that treats grief like a broken bone. It morphs grief into something that needs to be set, healed quickly, and returned to normal function as soon as possible. We’re given timelines for mourning, prescribed stages to move through, and gentle but persistent pressure to “find closure” and “move on.” ButContinueContinue reading “Grief is Praise: The Sacred Work of Loving What We’ve Lost | Daily Bread”

The Quiet Vigil (A Personal Reflection)

It’s midnight. Someone I love is sleeping beside me, deeply and peacefully, completely unaware of the quiet watch taking place over her. Her name is Echo, and she is my eldest dog. Echo has terminal cancer, and it’s been progressing fairly quickly lately. Earlier tonight there was a small medical moment. It was nothing dramaticContinueContinue reading “The Quiet Vigil (A Personal Reflection)”

This Is What Bold, Unashamed Faith Looks Like

This is a transcript of a message by Bryce Crawford, only 22 years old, mixed with my own commentary. Bryce is known for his street evangelism on YouTube, but here he is standing on a massive stage, saying the kinds of things most churches are afraid to say. No fluff. No performance. No crowd-pleasing Christianity.ContinueContinue reading “This Is What Bold, Unashamed Faith Looks Like”

The Cost of Awareness: The Performance of Humanity and the Weight of Feeling Too Much

Earlier today, I came across yet another post online where someone was asking, “Why are so many people laughing during this?” The context was tragic—something serious had happened, and yet, the reactions captured on video were bizarrely out of sync with the gravity of the moment. People were laughing. Filming. Spectating like it was aContinueContinue reading “The Cost of Awareness: The Performance of Humanity and the Weight of Feeling Too Much”

The Two Graves: When Grace Is Misjudged as Weakness

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” I came across this quote recently in response to the tragic death of Austin Metcalf—and the quiet, grace-filled response of his father, Justin Metcalf. In the face of unimaginable loss, this man has become the target of criticism—not for what he’s done, but forContinueContinue reading “The Two Graves: When Grace Is Misjudged as Weakness”

What Caregiving Is Really Like (Series): The Many Layers of Grief in Caregiving

Caregiving is a profound, sacred journey that takes us through various emotional, physical, and spiritual landscapes. Yet, one of the most complex and often misunderstood aspects of caregiving is the grief that caregivers experience. This grief is not just tied to the death of a loved one but begins long before that final loss. AndContinueContinue reading “What Caregiving Is Really Like (Series): The Many Layers of Grief in Caregiving”

What Caregiving Is Really Like (Series): Short-Term vs. Long-Term Caregiving — Two Different Worlds

Caregiving is not a one-size-fits-all experience. It takes many forms, shifts with time, and impacts people in wildly different ways depending on the duration, intensity, and emotional undercurrents involved. While most people have a general understanding of what it means to “be a caregiver,” very few grasp the depth of difference between short-term caregiving andContinueContinue reading “What Caregiving Is Really Like (Series): Short-Term vs. Long-Term Caregiving — Two Different Worlds”

She Raised Me Right—And I Wish I Had Treated Her Better

I wrote what follows in this post years ago, but coming across it again now—at this exact moment—feels almost divinely timed. After years of struggle, of uncertainty, of feeling like I had to beg certain people to just let me exist as I am, life is finally settling into itself in a tangible way. ForContinueContinue reading “She Raised Me Right—And I Wish I Had Treated Her Better”

Sunday Sessions | The Love We Notice While It’s Here

Writing this post feels like déjà vu—like I’ve written it before. Maybe I have. But it hit me again this morning, and I’m sharing it anyway. We can never have too many reminders to notice what we’re grateful for, to hold it close before it’s gone. Every morning, my mother-in-law texts me. Just a simpleContinueContinue reading “Sunday Sessions | The Love We Notice While It’s Here”