Dependence as a Virtue

Dependence as a Virtue

“Yea, I think it’s fine, just a rib out of place so it hurts to breathe.”

I was on the phone explaining the situation to my husband in the aftermath of me trying to pack up for a family trip on my own. I am willing to admit, I have a problem. I am very motivated to do things on my own, sometimes to the detriment of my own body. Like in this instance, when I was doing a lot of heavy lifting (luggage, pack-n-play, double stroller) after a few days of nearly constantly holding my (growing and heavy) teething baby which had put a strain on my back. I decided I could get our stuff ready to load up and I was not waiting around for my sweet husband to be home (in which case he would have certainly been trying to do all of these things for me!). While I thought it would all be fine, my back decided it had other plans.

Why I Am Going Back to School

Why I Am Going Back to School

I really enjoy learning. Don’t you? God has given us these minds that can take in so much information. The problem is we forget it REALLY fast. I think back to some of the subjects in school that I was pretty darn good at: Geometry, English, Physics. Just kidding, I wasn’t great at physics. Maybe you were though! And while I took tests and initially remembered information regarding The Count of Monte Cristo, if you asked me today what were its main themes, I'd have nothing for you.

"Life's Not Fair, and Then Ya Die"

"Life's Not Fair, and Then Ya Die"

My family is a mine of anecdotal wisdom and quippy responses. I have many favorite sayings from them over the years. There’s Grandma’s “Poop or get off the pot,” Grandpa’s “Crack your own whip,” and of course Nana’s “Emotions make a great caboose, but a terrible engine” line. There’s my dad’s “You’re grounded for life” bit and “Anyone want pie?” (a running tension breaking joke in our hard-headed Hanzel conversations).

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Sacred Seasons

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Sacred Seasons

I didn’t grow up paying much attention to Pentecost, but embracing sacred seasons like Advent and Lent (celebrating, meditating on and mourning key events in Jesus’ life) as more than a single event holiday has become a special part of my entire year. Honoring these seasons are not forced out of legalism, but given to us by God’s grace. In His sovereignty, God knows that we need intentional times of quiet reflection and regular reminders of His faithfulness, otherwise one day flows into the next month, into the next year.

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Race Among Friends: An Interview with Lauren McAfee and Asha McCoy

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Race Among Friends: An Interview with Lauren McAfee and Asha McCoy

How should we talk about race, even with friends whose ethnicity is different from our own? To get some much needed insight, we interviewed close friends Lauren McAfee (fair-skinned, fiery redhead) and Asha McCoy (mocha-skinned delight).

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New Year, New Normal

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New Year, New Normal

I feel like a broken record, but when Covid-19 impacted our world last March, I wasn’t prepared to still be talking about it almost a year later. At least the first several months of 2021 will be touched by safety measures, vaccinations, and other things that have become a “new normal”. What if we looked for hard-won treasures in a hard-lived year that we could adopt as part of our new normal?

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How Will You Read the Bible in 2021?

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How Will You Read the Bible in 2021?

Sometimes, what sounds like a good idea is actually divine inspiration. I honestly didn’t want to join our church’s “Read Through the Bible in 1 Year” plan. I prefer reading shorter amounts and spending more time focusing on them, but I wanted to support what the church was doing and I believe in the value of reading through Scripture.

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