My transition into motherhood was hard, and not for the normal newborn reasons. I expected to be tired, and I expected to not know what I was doing. The hard part was what was going on inside my head.

Verse after verse in the Bible point us to the peace in living simple lives. The kind of life not centered around stuff but one in which we “have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4).

So, what is it that moves us from sound doctrine to godly living? It’s the one thing Satan lacks—a desire for faithfulness. We must desire to act rightly from our orthodoxy, and that desire comes from a Spirit-given love.

Is there really a way to have social media and maintain our Christian identity? Is the only way to “be a good Christian” on social media to not have social media? And how do we speak out against injustices while still representing Christ? Daniel addressed these concerns and so many more.

“The kind of mother I think you really want to be is a Mother of Repair. This kind of mom is focused on reconciliation. This kind of mom does not shy away from the hard stuff. She rises and meets the mess head-on. She understands that God is in control and that her role isn’t to fix everything and make it all better but to just be there with truth in her words and grace in her hugs. Children, kids, teenagers, young adults.... they are all going to mess up, often in very big ways. During life’s darkest moments, children don’t need a mom who dances in the kitchen. They need a mother of repair.

I hope that my testimony encourages parents who have done everything they could to surround their kids and grow them up in the truth of the gospel. I’m sure to my parents my story was looking a little bleak, but their efforts had a huge impact in the way I came to submit my life to Christ.

We all want authentic community because that means we know each other well enough to notice when there is a need. It means we’re paying attention to each other.

You are weary. But you too can take hold and claim that thrill of hope. Hope in God’s great rescue plan for His weary children. We get a glimpse of this gift at Christmas; in this Silent and Holy Night.

You do not have to be alone in your pain and suffering, for Christ will walk with you in your trials, and the church will join you to see you through.

There is the idea of slowing down and just “being.”

It could consist of being present, being missional minded, being slow to speak, being slow to anger, being willing to stop and seek rest in Christ- this is something Alan Fadling calls in his book, An Unhurried Life, is living at the “pace of grace.”

If you think about it, the Gospel always places our immediate needs and wants into perspective and ensures we can say, no matter what happens, “It is well with my soul.” May we declare with our whole heart that Jesus is enough, I need nothing else.

What do you demand of Christ? If we were honest with ourselves, I’m sure we’d all have a long list of things we begged Jesus for over the years.

The task of spiritual formation in today’s world is arguably more difficult than ever. Thanks to the advent of the smartphone, disciples have never been more distracted. These devices provide us with instant access to more information than our brains could ever dream of processing. Social media, in particular, is in constant competition for our attention. The never-ending feed of status updates, tweets, and pictures can draw us in for hours of wasted time we can never recapture. The implications for our growth as disciples are massive and virtually impossible to overlook.

2018 has been quite the year, in a good way. So much has happened since I began officially as the general manager of Mars Hill Café back in January. As I type this evening, memories flood my head of all that has occurred so far—memories for which I am grateful.

What does it look like for ordinary Christian people to live out their faith in day to day life? It can be challenging to know just what serving God looks like outside of Sunday.

We are busy. Families, work, finances, friends, church, kids, sports, science projects, homework, and the list goes on and on.

With so much happening in our lives, how do we evaluate where we are?