Essays on Faith and Ordinary Life

I write personal reflections on doubt, trust, weariness, and grace—stories from my own life, not advice. They are small attempts to notice what is true in the middle of ordinary days, and to speak it plainly. If you’d like to read them, I’ll send new essays straight to your inbox.

  1. Writing Blind

    My inner world is just as important as my outer world. How I live inwardly will bring context and meaning to my daily life.

  2. On Negation

    God has promised us this. He says everything will work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. God says, 'No!' to our deepest hurts and turns our wounds into wisdom.

  3. On Taking the Next Step

    Each next step is not a referendum on my value as a person but an avenue for growth. I am one small person among many, so my next choice, no matter how earth-shattering it may seem to me, is relatively unserious.

  4. Noticers, Rememberers, and Storytellers

    Our busyness, which we may think marks our importance, might actually be a travesty if the reason we are here is to notice all the details of living—to feel, hear, taste, and see the truth of being alive.

  5. The Reformation, Individualism, and the Fractured Church

    I'm not sure he was right.

  6. Turning the Corner

    I want my work to be my salvation—spiritual, physical, relational. Though I know that 'godliness with contentment is great gain,' I have a lust for more.

  7. Right Doctrine and the Wrong Spirit

    I love to be correct, and when I feel I have understood something thoroughly, I can occasionally become belligerent in argumentation.

  8. Brilliant Minds Chasing Ancient Demons

    We dismiss the Living God as primitive while we chase the ancient spirits worshiped by primitive man.

  9. Sip of Coffee, Moving Pen

    Writing habit is, simply put, vulnerability. Exposing my deepest self and most tentative ideas is a habit that costs me. So I'd rather read someone else's writing than create my own.

  10. Skipping Church

    Maybe we are gods, but our kingdom is much smaller than His. We live in a world we think we fully control, but one emptied of meaning.

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