Resources
Be Still and Know (Excerpt)
Our lives are now larger and more complex than they used to be. To hold steady, have clarity and the true power of a life well-lived, we need a large and deep substructure, one able to hold up the superstructure. This is not only urgent; it is essential to our wellbeing. For not only are…
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BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus (Excerpt)
“Lessons in food are lessons in culture, so the more food discoveries I made, the more at home I felt.” – Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly Magazine BBQ Editor It all started thanks to our love of barbecue and a YETI cooler. Every four years, the state magazine Texas Monthly publishes its Top 50 BBQ list.…
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Praying for Your Foster Children
Cultivating a Heart of Gratitude With Our Foster Children On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them…
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Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season
Perhaps you are a planner and October doesn’t seem too early to start talking about the Christmas season. You’re already formatting your Christmas card picture, booking travel plans, or deciding which days you’ll take PTO and which days you’ll “work from home” while kids are around on winter break from school. I’m not very proactive…
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Supporting Yourself (Or A Friend) Through Miscarriage
Miscarriage may be the most tragic or traumatic loss you have faced thus far. You might feel resentful or depressed; you may be struggling with your faith or in your marriage. You likely do not want to hear anyone else’s opinion on your situation or your grief. But you still have to interact with others…
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Creative God Excerpt
Imagine. If I asked you to close your eyes and imagine yourself sipping a mug of tea or a coffee anywhere in the world, could you do it? If you could, would your imagination provide more than just a snapshot image of you at a round table on a busy street or a still frame…
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Count Your Crosses: The Graces of Fortitude and Perseverance
The cold had run its course through our whole family, taking down each man, woman, and child for days at a time, eating up the entire month of March in early 2011. While everyone else recovered, even five-month-old Teddy, Fulton struggled, weak and congested, long past the point when the other four were back to…
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Korean Washcloths: Messengers of God’s Nearness and Love
For years when I was young, my mom took nightly baths, and I would join her. We would pile our thick, black hair on top of our heads, so strong and stiff it would shoot up like onion sprouts. We scrubbed each other’s backs with neon-colored, nylon washcloths, as if we were scrubbing potato skins…
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No Breaks in a Broken System: Common Horizon Excerpt
We sit in a small office off the main hallway. The insurance representative is pulling all the forms for me, the new hire at a medical records office. He spots the ring on my finger, my grandmother’s diamond newly set in the band. “Married?” he casually asks. “No. We are thinking of moving the date…
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Every Season Sacred: The Gift of Noticing
I’m pushing the stroller around the corner when the podcast I’m streaming cuts out. I frown and glance at my phone. Out of battery. I’ve just promised my older kids thirty more minutes of park time with friends while I walk the nearby sidewalks. What am I supposed to do with no podcasts, music, or…
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Our Lady of Hot Messes Excerpt
Life is so crazy. I used to think that I was doing it all wrong, that because I hadn’t figured out the secret code that every one else seemed to know, God was not interested in helping me with my life. I grew up going to a First Baptist Church in a small, rural south Texas town. I…
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The Beauty of Motherhood Excerpt: Nourished
Even before being discharged from the hospital following the birth of my second child, Isaac, I discovered my blood pressure increased. In the weeks leading to delivery at check-ups, the nurses had to double-check my pressure multiple times as the numbers kept getting higher and higher. I never needed additional medicine or a hospital stay,…
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