A Guiding Principle for the Modesty Conversation: You Are Not Merely a Body

/
A Guiding Principle for the Modesty Conversation: You Are Not Merely a Body

Modesty is about as tricky of a topic as it gets. There are many of us who grew up in the church and can easily recall the deep shame we felt when someone told us that we crossed a line. Maybe we didn’t mean to cross the line. Maybe we had no idea where the line was. Maybe we disagreed about the line. Maybe we meant to cross it, but we were still horrified to be brought so low so quickly. Whatever the heart condition, the shame was the same, and we walked away confused that our bodies could be a weapon in so many ways. It attacked us when we looked at it in the mirror, and it attacked others when we did not clothe it properly. We were confused because the world implied our body was how we earned favor, but the church implied favor was earned by how we covered it. We were frustrated because we got two opposing messages: it doesn’t matter how you look on the outside, but also it really, really does.

Read More

Mothering on Mother's Day

/
Mothering on Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is a day shaped for sweet celebration—but it also exposes: who we’ve lost, who we long for, who we have never known. If you've ever spent a Mother’s Day service weeping or avoided it altogether, you know what I mean. (Precious brother or sister, if that's you, I hope this and this can serve you. May God bless you and keep you.)

And yet, even for the woman who is not currently experiencing any acute loss or longing, it can be an unexpectedly difficult day. This article is for that woman—the one whose circumstances seem ideal on paper. The one whose house and hands are full, who is hungry to be acknowledged and appreciated.

To this woman, I want to offer two pieces of counsel:

  1. Look out.

  2. Get dressed.

Read More

Good News for Getting Dressed

/
Good News for Getting Dressed

I’ve bought my daughter the same dresses since she was two. Every year, I sell the too-small ones, and I hunt for a deal for the right-size ones. It’s a whole thing, but the colors, the comfort, the simplicity of outfit-choosing, and the twirl factor make us both happy. In a world crowded with decisions, it’s nice to think, “Tomorrow she can wear the pink dress. Or the purple. It barely matters.” Sometimes I’m jealous because I can’t seem to figure out the grown-up version of this for my closet.

But then again, even if I somehow managed to perfectly capsule my whole wardrobe, even if the “what to wear” question became as simple as “pink or purple?”, deciding what adorns us is never as easy as all that.

Read More

Compassion

/
Compassion

True story: I met a woman who was sponsored as a child by Compassion International, and within minutes of hearing her story, I noticed years of unacknowledged cynicism and suspicion towards missional organizations began to unravel. In an attempt at discernment, I’d become distorted. This startled me, and I immediately began to repent to the Lord for my hard-heartedness! I’d been haughty and arrogant, thinking I’d discerned the hearts of men when only God can do that, thinking I had total command over “my” resources when God’s plan has always been to bless his people that they might bless people. Another problem: I’d been so nervous about and disgusted by saviorism that it prevented me from trusting my Savior. Whew. (More on that another time. This is worth unpacking.)

Read More

The Story of Home

/

Every year I present the big story of the Bible from a new angle: The Story of Light, The Story of Hunger, The Story of Water, The Story of Song — and this year, The Story of Home. When I decided 2020’s concept last October, I had no idea how fraught it was going to be. This year, the concept of home has deeply pressed itself into our hearts, both because we have been trapped in our homes and because we have been prevented from seeing those who feel like home to us. Home is something we have both lived and longed for. Home is a concept that’s tangled up in both our traumas and our treasures.

Read More