You Never Know What You Had ‘Til It’s Gone

Since blogging about the social media epidemic, I re-downloaded Instagram. I was only on it for a week before recognizing (ok, my husband noticed it first) how much time it had started to take up. It wasn’t that much – comparatively. It wasn’t as much as it had been before I deleted the app back in […]

The Social Media Epidemic

“I release myself from the obligation or expectation to share with the world what is going on in my life.” That was what I wrote in the back of my sermon notebook a few weeks ago in the middle of the service. I had deleted Instagram off my phone the previous night, Facebook that morning […]

The Mess of Ministry

I’ve been a part of ministry since I was a baby. First I was just the child of a traveling preacher, then a YPK, PK, Sunday School teacher, missionary, camp counselor, youth group leader, part-time worship leader, pianist, mentor, nursery worker, small group leader. . . and while there have been countless things I’ve learned […]

The Talk: For Singles

I want to broach a topic that, in my personal opinion, is not discussed enough among Christians in a scriptural way or in a safe environment. Sex. It is time we stop acting like this is not an issue. It’s time we start acknowledging that it is a struggle to remain pure in any capacity […]

Quarter of a Century

Happy 25th birthday to me! How crazy is that? Sometimes when I get asked how old I am, I have to stop and think because in my head apparently I’m still 22 or thereabouts. When my husband turned 25 back in October, he wrote 25 things he had learned in his 25 years of life. […]

what a year.

It sounds so cliche to say but I am shocked at how quickly the year’s end came upon us. Just like that, it is 2019. A new calendar, a new set of goals, a refreshed perspective. 2019 is full of possibilities. I am stoked for our new website launch (you can find our new site […]

the best thing I’ve done in 2018

(not my photo. No copyright infringement intended.) About two weeks ago, I deleted the Facebook app from off my phone; and that one tiny act has literally changed my life. I don’t know why Facebook is such a time-waster for me. Instagram? I can hop on, scroll for a couple minutes, and hop off. […]

stop looking for “the one.”

I feel the need to clarify something. First of all, I appreciate the response to my last blog post. I really do. It means so much that people comment on my post, like it, share it or excerpts from it, and message me about it. It is overwhelming and humbling, and I love y’all. […]

How to know you’ve found “the one”

[photo by Ashley Crutcher Photography] It was a sticky day in July. Campers would be arriving in just a few short hours and there was a lot to do before then. As we sat at brunch, I could tell he was nervous. “What’s wrong?” I asked after we prayed over our rice bowls. “I […]

What Engaged/Newlyweds REALLY Want to Hear

Ahhhhhh being in love. It’s a beautiful, precious, wonderful thing, isn’t it? Joshua and I were engaged for fourteen months, and it was a blast telling people about the plans and making all the plans themselves. And now we’ve been married for almost two months, and it’s lovely telling people about where we went for […]