This is adapted from a sermon I gave in December of 2012, just after the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. At the time, it was the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. After Saturday night’s shooting in Orlando, it is now the third. A Lament I was brave back in college. … More When All You Can Do is Lament
To the Pastor’s Husband, Thank you for undertaking this journey – a journey that is fraught with both blessing and difficulty. Pastoring is an odd and wondrous calling, and the pastor’s husband is along for a wild ride indeed. Thank you for all the long hours you supported us during seminary. Thank you for listening … More To the Pastor’s Husband on Father’s Day
I am not a fan of many of the Bible’s “when” statements. Take Isaiah 43 for example: When you pass through the waters… and when you pass through the rivers… When you walk through the fire… No thanks. I’m good. I’d really rather not pass through the waters or the rivers. That sounds scary and … More When You Walk Through the Fire * 10 Minute Devotional
No matter how well you’ve prepared for certain big things in life, you can never be fully prepared. Whether you’re surrounded by well-wishers offering advice or totally alone on an island, there will be things you just didn’t predict until the big event happens. I had some idea of what welcoming baby #2 into our lives would … More 5 Things Nobody Told Me About Adding Baby #2
Nothing good happens at 3am. Friends of mine had a baby who woke them crying at 3am. Evan went to check on him. In the dark room, he leaned over the crib to pick the little guy up when the baby violently spit up all over them both. Half-asleep and covered in baby vomit, Evan … More Step Out * 10 Minute Devotional
I struggled to make friends in high school. Part of it was my bookish, introverted nature. The larger part was that I assumed I only needed one friend. I bought into the BFF thing, believing that there was one person out there who could be my be-all and end-all in the friend department. I was wrong. … More 10 Friends Every Woman Needs
I stood in front of the mirror trying to screw up my courage. “I should be ready for this,” I told myself. “Other moms do a lot more than this a lot earlier” I wasn’t preparing to climb Everest, or even host a preschooler’s raucous birthday party. All that lay before me was a day with my … More Stopping the ‘Should’ Cycle
My father grew up in the little farm town of Washington, Illinois just outside Peoria. He spent his childhood playing cowboys and setting off firecrackers down by the creek, walking to school (uphill both ways in the snow, according to him, but that’s another story…) and worshiping at Grace Presbyterian. He loved his town, and we went … More Jesus is in the Boat * 10 Minute Devotional
I can be a complainer. Most of us can, if we’re honest. It’s too hot out today. I can’t believe the waiter got my dinner order wrong. I definitely didn’t need to get a cold this week. Why can’t my husband ever remember when it’s trash day? Oh great, it’s allergy season again. It’s often easier to … More A Broken Washer and Other Lessons in Gratitude
Matthew 28:16-20 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all … More This is a Football * 10 Minute Devotional
Courtney Ellis 