Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 16:13–20
As I write this, I’m sitting on the banks of a river in West Virginia. We come here every year. Rising twelve feet from the middle of the river is a massive rock, seventy feet long by fifty feet wide. [...]
I believe that America’s greatest idols are self-autonomy and self-reliance. It is all too easy for our identity to become wrapped up in ourselves—to be “self-made” women:
to be the best at what we set out to do
to have a “perfect” self-care regime
to be that healthy #bossbabe who drinks eight glasses of water a day
to have an immaculately clean house while being a fully present wife and mother
Our culture feeds us the lie that we only need to listen to our “personal truth” (whatever that is) to find happiness and wisdom. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 15:21–28
In this week’s gospel, I have no doubt that if I had been the Canaanite woman, I would have been tempted to walk away from Jesus—offended and hurt. And yet this woman, a Gentile who does not know Scripture or Jewish tradition, [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 14:22–33
We recently had some powerful summer storms come through our small Pennsylvania town. It was as though the skies opened up just seconds before I had to leave to pick up my youngest son from camp. I drive a big car, [...]
One of my favorite verses in Scripture is John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” I love that Jesus' desire for us is not merely to exist or cope with our circumstances but to live abundantly. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 17:1–9
A few years ago, my family and I spent a month volunteering at a youth camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Week after week, groups of teens would come from all over the West Coast for activities, talks, [...]
In the midst of uncertainty, when we do not know which path to take; during the seasons of our life when the seas are stormy, and Jesus appears to be sleeping in the boat; in times of darkness, when grief has a stronghold on our heart, [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 13:44–52
During my senior year in college, I was laser-focused on achieving one thing: landing a television newsroom internship. I quickly discovered this would be a challenging task. Although I combed through my contacts and blustered the two local news stations near our campus with phone calls inquiring about internships, [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 13:24–30
Fun fact: If you have seen the Walking with Purpose promo video, you have seen the inside of my home. What you cannot see are the English gardens this 1805 farmhouse rests on. As our real estate agent walked us through the grounds, [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 11:25–30
When Jim Gaffigan’s wife told him camping was a tradition in her family, he quipped, “It was a tradition in everyone’s family till we invented the house.” Growing up in northern Minnesota, I saw it as something of a rite of passage. [...]
