The Blog
of grace & gumption
For the past nine years, I’ve worked for a financial advisor during the day and pursued writing during my “free time.” But by the grace of God, that all changes on Monday. No longer will I have to split my time and attention between my day job and my dream job....
A few weeks ago, my siblings and I had the honor of surprising our parents with a wonderful night on the town in honor of their 25th wedding anniversary. We all got dressed up, showed up at their house in a limo, and took them to a private room at one of the most...
Chances are, if you're already in L-U-V yourself, you may be considering the next step in relational bliss: matchmaking. Perhaps you realize that the cute young girl who sings at your church and the sweet young man who works with your husband are both single and both...
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that declared that a women's right to privacy extends to her decision to have an abortion. Since then, it is estimated that over 55 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. alone....
When I was younger, every summer brought the same story as the last. The day school let out, my brothers and sister and I would begin pining away for what every child covets at one time or another – a swimming pool. We’d drop hints at first, exaggerating extreme...
f one of your annual traditions is reading the One-Year Bible, there's a good chance you're already a good way through the book of Genesis. It's one of my favorite books of the Bible, but portions of it are so familiar, I'm afraid I sometimes rush past them. Like the...
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three whole months before she returned home. During that time, they marveled at what God was doing in their lives. They celebrated their pregnancies. They compared baby bumps. They documented their miracles with a joint maternity photo...
Elizabeth could have become jealous or bitter that her moment of thunder was dimmed by Mary’s spotlight. Many times, that’s exactly how we respond. When your moment of thunder, whatever that may mean to you, finally arrives, it’s like you want the whole world to...
Elizabeth had approximately five or six months of thunder. That’s it. Just a few short months when she was in the spotlight. Her news was “the” news of the day, and all eyes were on her, the priest’s wife whose belly was growing large with promise despite her old age....
Usually, you have a little warning before you hear thunder. A little rain. Some wind. A flash of lightning, perhaps. But what about those times when thunder catches you completely off guard? I imagine that’s what it was like for Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah....
Her name was Elizabeth, but you might know her best as the mother of John the Baptist. However, long before she was John’s mom, she was a mommy wannabe. Just another barren woman who wanted to have a child but couldn’t. And without a child, she had no purpose. It was...
Have you ever had someone steal your thunder? You know, upstage you? Steal your spotlight? Rain on your parade? Surely I’m not the only one. Not long after I graduated from college (magna cum laude and with highest honors, I might add), guess what happened. My...