Isn’t it crazy how hard it is to actually follow through with some of the decisions or commitments that are most important to us? We want to exercise and be in better health, but still it is so stinkin’ hard to make ourselves exercise or skip dessert. We may hate ourselves after we eat the chocolate cake and resolve to do better…but still the inner…

     Father, you are God. All your decisions are right. How you deal with me, giving or withholding, is wise and generous. What you decide to make of my life is completely at your discretion. You are the Potter and I am the clay.      Forgive my shortcomings and failings, my pride and lust, my selfishness and wandering, my divided heart and inconsistency, my fear and…

First, for the next week, let’s put a morning and an afternoon reminder on our phones to remind us to intercede for the the sake of the gospel. We have two teams heading out of the country. One is in Reynosa now and another heads to Costa Rica on Dec. 31. (Plus, one of our CrossBridgers has joined a team from another church heading to Thessaloniki.) Two times a day…

     When my three daughters were small, every morning when I awakened, I would walk into our family room and call to them upstairs saying, “Good morning sweet girls! I love you!”  (Two of my girls are in college now, but the one at home still gets this.)      During the day, regardless of where my girls are or whether I’ve talked to them recently or…

Christmas is a time when people are more open to spiritual things. It’s the time of year when followers of Jesus often cocoon the most. So, our friends and neighbors can wind up hearing and seeing the love of Jesus and we can wind up missing out on being included in cool Jesus stuff.      Don’t get me wrong, I love my family time and can’t wait until my…

The crew started demolition work on our patio today as they start construction on the expanded lobby and upstairs classroom. I offered to jump in and help, but Ricky and Patrick (see photo) only let me hold a hammer for the picture and they wouldn’t let me go near the power chisel (it was really cool looking!) This lobby is going to provide more room for us on…

     It’s easy to get so focused on the future and what needs to be done that we sometimes forget to look back and see the distance the Lord has brought us. The really bad thing about living that way is that sometimes it feels like you haven’t done enough. Other times, not looking back, robs us of the reality of the genuine progress that’s been made. It…

     Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite times, in part because it’s when our elder team gets to share the annual report for this year and the proposed budget for next year. (You can click on this link to view the report.) I always feel so full of gratitude when I see the report each year–thankful for getting to raise my family with people like you and…

    When I was growing up, my family had a tradition that used to really bug me. At Thanksgiving and the New Year, when we sat down for dinner, my dad would ask each of us to share something for which we were thankful. (In my teenage mind I’m sure I was thinking, “I’m thankful that there will be a day when I don’t have to do this every…