“Why suffering? I get it but I don’t get it,” a friend told me recently. Yep. I agree with her. This “problem of pain” we face in everyday life – from minor annoyances to heavy trauma – what good does it actually do and why does God allow it?  Let’s be real. I can’t answer […]

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Whoosh.The machine at my feet kicked on, the cuffs at my ankles compressed and squeezed the air from my lungs as they tightened on my legs. My left big toe itched. My ice water needed refilling, and I could use that pain pill the nurse mentioned an hour ago.  The room was cold and gray […]

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I walked into the library today feeling like an imposter.  I’m a writer, and I follow a lot of writers on Instagram. Some I follow to support. Some I follow to admire. Some I may need to stop following because I idolize.  I walked into the library today wearing a red Wisconsin t-shirt and a […]

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It’s Easter. We open our social media and up pop cute, springy family photos with everyone smiling. “Happy Easter! Hope you have a lovely celebration with family and friends!” We see it online, we notice happy people at church, or at egg hunts, and we cringe.  Maybe it’s all we can do to get out […]

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I heard the ding on my phone and glanced over. My nurse practitioner had emailed me, no doubt about the results of my blood panel I’d spent several hundred dollars getting done the week before. I set down the basket of laundry and picked up my phone.  In a few words, she let me know […]

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A college student named Liz Skiles balanced a dozen spinning plates at once. She hosted a freshmen’s Bible study, helped lead weekly prayer times, worked on the school janitorial crew, played intramural sports, discipled girls one-on-one, kept up dozens of friendships, and organized the children’s ministry at her church, on top of scoring A’s in […]

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When did you last wish for something that felt out of reach?  Maybe living a balanced life instead of being frazzled and rushed? About traveling the world? Maybe starting something – a business, a family, a church? About writing a book or singing on stage or or climbing a mountain?  Have you, like me, started […]

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I love life. Sunshine slanting through the window. Old men leaning across the table at Panera to laugh and share stories over coffee. The goldendoodle ripping across the yard toward me with his tennis ball, a giant grin on his face. My son giggling uncontrollably at the pirates in an old Disney movie.  But sometimes […]

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At the steakhouse I scooped up the barely used crayons from my children’s menus and tossed them in my purse. They only lay there a couple weeks before I dug them out one night hoping for a less cluttered purse to take to the grocery store.  Now, they lay like sticks of confetti in front […]

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