(Part 2 of 4 in the “Performing or Belonging?” series) Let’s be honest, most of us are addicted to approval. We don’t call it that. We call it being “driven,” “motivated,” “on our game.” But underneath the hustle is a hunger: Please notice me. Please like me. Please tell me I’m enough. And if you think…
Inspired by Night 2 of the LCMS Youth Gathering & Hebrews 12:1–3 Some moments stay with you. For many who gathered on Night 2 of the LCMS Youth Gathering, there was a phrase that echoed through the arena and hit deep into the soul: “I am that joy.” “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter…
There’s a reason the theme of this year’s Youth Gathering echoes loud and clear: Endure. We live in a world where it’s easy to quit. Quit trying. Quit believing. Quit showing up. Life throws curveballs, culture applies pressure, and sometimes it feels like we’re barely holding on. But Hebrews gives us a different word. One that…
Ever feel like you’re drowning in noise. Not just the sound of traffic or your neighbor’s dog or the 37th autoplay video on Instagram. I’m talking about the kind of noise that sits in your brain even when it’s quiet. The constant scroll, the endless to-do list, the pressure to keep up, to stay informed, to…
(Part 1 of 4 in the “Performing or Belonging?” series) It often goes without saying – we’re exhausted. Not from work. Not from parenting. Not from the latest crisis-of-the-week. So many people exhausted from pretending. Smiling when we’re breaking. Posting like we’re thriving. Walking into rooms, churches included, wondering if we’re being judged for not…
There’s something sacred about those beloved colors of red, white, and blue. They’re more than just a color scheme for a t-shirt or those skirts around floats for a parade. They tell a story. They tell our story whether we like it or not. Every thread of that flag carries the weight of history and the…
There’s an American flag flying outside my home, and it doesn’t just go up for holidays. It’s there most every day, through wind, rain, snow, and sun. It flies for the men and the women who stand for me. It flies for my family, my cousins, my grandfather, my brother, and even my son –…
We spend years in the trenches of parenting between car seats and curfews, timeouts and tantrums, grades and guidance. For two decades (give or take), we pour everything we have into shaping, steering, and correcting. We raise them to grow up, to think for themselves, to stand on their own two feet. But here’s the…
Drive through almost any county in America and you’ll spot them: gorgeous brick steeples hovering over empty parking lots, sanctuaries built for 300 now echoing with twenty voices and a stubborn furnace that costs more than the weekly offering. We’ve become better caretakers of drywall than of disciples. And the numbers back it up. Lifeway Research…
Ever have this thought go through your mind? Raising kids today feels like building a straw fort in a windstorm. The world is loud.The rules keep changing.The pressures seem to start earlier with every generation. The questions get heavier.And half the time, we don’t even feel confident in our own footing, let alone how to…
