When Santa Clause Leaves Town

Now that I am nineteen years old, the gift opening process has lost some of its magic. I can’t decide if this is because I don’t have a list of thirty-five different toys I want, or because I don’t open toys that my cousins and I sit and play with on the floor together all day, or some other unknown reason. I have found more joy in watching my young cousins faces when they open their presents. I can’t help but wonder if my parents watched my face like that.

Open Hands: What Mary Means for Control Freaks Like Me

I'll admit, control is an area that I struggle in.  I try to manipulate situations to play out the way that I want.  I have a hard time letting other people lead because I want control.  And ultimately, I have a hard time giving things to God.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that we have the ability to control things when in the end, God is the one who is sovereign.  

Never Alone: What the Crowded Nativity Tells Us about Relationships

It’s your life. It’s your choice. But this emphasis on individuality comes at a cost. We’ve become lonely and isolated, so consumed with self that we become a stranger to the other. Is this really the gospel way of life?