My sisters and I grew up attending Christmas Eve services at a rural evangelical church in the northern woods of Wisconsin. It was as picturesque as that sounds–snowy woods filled with evergreens and white-tailed deer and birch trees. After the services every kid was given a brown paper bag filled with candy and an orange, though … More An Unconventional Christmas Eve * Advent Devotional
You guys, I’ve never met Aubry Smith but we are friends. How can you NOT be friends with someone who has traveled halfway around the world to serve and educate pregnant and postpartum women AND written an awesome book about God’s role in childbirth? So pleased to be able to share her brilliant and beautiful … More Advent for the Outsider * Advent Devotional
When my sister had her third baby a few years ago, we got the text in the wee hours of the morning. “It’s a boy!” it read. “Everyone is healthy.” I rolled over in bed and tapped my husband’s shoulder. “Cait had her baby!” I whispered. “I’m going!” “Oh good,” he murmured groggily. “Wait, going … More Holy Family * Advent Devotional
The world is filled with impossibilities. Peace between neighbors. A cure for a chronic illness. Trying to get parking at the mall the Saturday before Christmas. Don’t even get me started on getting our preschooler from the house to the car in less than eighteen minutes. Yet God traffics in the mysterious, the difficult, the … More How Will This Be? * Advent Devotional
I read somewhere recently that cleaning the house while your kids are awake is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos. Pretty much. Laboring in vain takes on a whole new meaning with young kids in the house. I’m a working mom, but even with all the scheduled, productive hours at church and the university, there … More Laboring in Vain? * Advent Devotional
I only know the talented Megan Busch through the blogosphere, but after reading her writings one thing became immanently clear to me. WE NEEDED TO BE FRIENDS. Spend some time with her Advent devotional today, and I think you’ll feel the same. I used to keep an unwritten checklist in my heart. Maybe you had … More My Unfinished List * Advent Devotional
I first met Bethany Beams in college. I was friends with her then-boyfriend (now-husband). He was studying to be a physicist and was brilliant, sarcastic, thoughtful, and witty. As soon as I met Bethany I thought, “She is brilliant, sarcastic, thoughtful, and witty TOO! These two are PERFECT for each other.” I don’t live close … More Hold On to the Light * Advent Devotional
This guest post was written by the lovely and talented Stacey Philpot of Chronically Whole, a blog dedicated to her journey with Lyme disease, faith, family, and friendship. Waiting. We’re the worst at it, are we not? Surely it’s not just my newsfeed that’s filled with complaints about it. The line at the grocery store is too long … More When Waiting Hurts * Advent Devotional
Daryl Ellis is smart, handsome, thoughtful, and he loves Jesus, his family, California, and the UCLA Bruins (in that order). He married me nearly ten years ago, and being his wife and watching him be dad to our two boys is one of my life’s great joys. Welcome, Daryl! Isaiah 65:17 (NIV) See, I will … More Deep Desire and a Thousand Detours * Advent Devotional
Psalm 130:5-6 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Watchmen know the morning is coming. That’s why they watch. It’d be utter foolishness to watch for … More Morning is Coming * Advent Devotional
Courtney Ellis 