heartlight org articles

So what's really the deal with Valentine's Day? My family experienced some minor medical drama the week between Christmas and New Year's while traveling out of state. On one of my many trips to the drug store, I had to stop dead in my tracks. I was perusing the Christmas decorations and...

Parenting cuts deep to the core. It lays open our needs before God, and we can either resent it or embrace the powerful cleansing that comes from God's purifying fire Yesterday was messy. It felt like we were trudging through sludge all day long just to get the bare essentials done...

Why do we limit our lives to the mundane of only what we can see? Why, oh why, do we cling to safety over being truly alive? Why are we so terrified of coming to the end of ourselves when that's the place when God rushes in? Why are we so scared of throwing a leg over the side of the...

We were not created for war, fighting, and death. No wonder our souls gasp for justice and a peaceful community. I've been thinking a lot about peace... As the garden weeds grow and as the tomatoes hang heavy on the branches. As my children and I bury our fingers in the clay soil and pull...

It's good to embrace seasons of quiet. The land slipped away behind us, and the lake lay still as glass. A lone bird called out across the water and the only answer was the gentle slosh of our oars cutting into the water. The silence warmed our skin, and even the children paused...

It was in the middle of one of these nitty-gritty down-to-earth conversations between Jesus and His disciples that He fleshed out the secret. I've often wished to be able to be with Jesus in person. To share a meal, a cup of steaming coffee, to ask Him specifics. What wealth it would be to...

Hope is the life in our veins, the breath in our lungs and the courage for tomorrow. Our hope is not in our circumstances. Our hope is not in what we see or even feel. Our hope is in Jesus, who is doing a deep eternal work in us. Far beyond what eyes can grasp, deep underground roots are...

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). We hold our breath. We close our eyes and listen. Our hearts strain and lean in. We taste it, salty between our teeth. We feel the shadows deepen all around us. The...

The more I discover, the vast possibilities ahead yawn even wider before me. Mid-process. Lessons still muddy and sweaty. This is where we are. Turns out adults don't know everything. In fact, I'm learning how much I don't know. The more I discover, the vast possibilities...

I wish I could have hugged the girl on the elevator. I saw her from a distance carrying what appeared to be a clear trash bag. She stepped inside the elevator just a few steps ahead of me. I looked more closely at the garbage bag and saw that she had partially filled it with clothes. Then...

Don't focus on the building waves or let the pitching boat convince you otherwise. Peace. In the face of uncertain odds. Our world is broken. We see it. We taste it. We stand and watch as it implodes, crumbling to dry powder at our feet. This is not the safe, trustworthy...

Find someone you can talk to. Don't wait any longer. Get the conversation started! I am 64 years old, and I have never talked about this before to anyone except my family, and even they don't know everything about what I am about to tell you. When I was a little girl, about 10 years old, I...

My response is to recognize God’s greatness and grace in using me as an instrument and with confidence move into this pure, unspotted new chapter. Ah, the new year. It is laid out before me — clean and inviting. How do I begin this new chapter with the intention of letting God write through...

Jesus > You + X (all your dos) + Y (all your dont's)!Dear Church People, I used to be a math teacher. You might think, based on this whole writing gig, I would have been an English or Reading teacher... neh eh. I just cannot grade all those essays with all those words. Me? I really like a...