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When We Face a Relational Conflict

MORGAN FIKKERT|GUEST There it was: the email. And, with it, the anxiety. A lady from my Bible study group wrote to me that my response to her sharing her personal story had bothered her. The added twist was that her daughter was one of my closest friends.  In my frustration and anxiety, I experienced two quick instincts: either shoot back a defensive email, or call my friend to vent to her about her mother.  Other times, the tables have turned on me. Once, a lady told her friend about a decision I’d made that she disagreed with (although, she’d seemed happy with the decision when we had talked). Her friend then came to me, upset on her behalf. It left me with the question: why didn’t she talk to me about it herself? It should be simple, but we all know how hard it is to talk directly to the person we should be talking to. When a situation goes sideways, the anxiety can feel like water bubbling up in a boiling hot pot—it needs somewhere to go, and fast.... 

When We Face a Relational Conflict2026-10-18T18:19:42+00:00

Gospel Friendship: A Conduit to the Father

STEPHANIE FORMENTI | CONTRIBUTOR I was a young mom to three children under the age of 5. We had recently navigated an international move far from my family and friends and absolutely everything was new. I couldn’t speak the language, I couldn’t drive, we didn’t have a backyard, and the food was really different. I was struggling. In my struggle, my husband and I committed to praying and asking the Lord to bring an English-speaking friend into my life. In His kindness, about two months later, a woman from the UK moved to our Brazilian city with her family and we met at church. Mary (name changed) was a little farther along in life and ministry than I was, loved Jesus, and had a warm and welcoming presence. So, when she suggested we meet up for coffee, I jumped at the chance. Over time, we started meeting regularly and those get-togethers became a lifeline for me. Speaking English was a welcome retreat after navigating daily life in Portuguese. Having an hour to sit in a cafe was a sweet respite from the busyness of caring for three young children. And this newfound mentor was fun and insightful. But more than anything else, these regular meetings became an important part of the growth and sanctification the Lord was already doing in this season of challenge because of my friend’s willingness to do three important things:...

Gospel Friendship: A Conduit to the Father2026-09-19T18:00:17+00:00

A Fruitful Farewell

CHERYL MULLIS | GUEST What do you say to those you love? I just returned from a trip to Colorado where I had the joy of celebrating the high school graduations of both my niece and my grandson. As I attended the ceremonies and parties, I experienced a mix of emotions. Both graduates had displays filled with photographs capturing significant moments in their lives, and as I looked through them, I couldn’t help but wonder, where has all the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday when they were taking their first steps, starting school, growing, and learning. Attending the graduations of these two special ones was a true gift—one that I don’t take for granted. When the day came for me to fly home, I found myself lingering, sometimes with tears in my eyes, because I was not quite ready to leave. There was much that I still wanted to say to them. As my niece and grandson reach these milestones in their lives and prepare for new adventures, I find myself reflecting not only on their future, but also on the years we have shared together. Have I told them often enough how much I love them? Have I pointed them to Christ? Have I reminded them of God’s grace and faithfulness? Have I made the most of opportunities God has given me to invest in their lives?...

A Fruitful Farewell2026-08-14T17:38:14+00:00

The Gift of Intergenerational Relationships

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR Eight months after getting married, my husband and I packed up a U-Haul and moved to Atlanta. He was excited about the move, as it would mean following a call the Lord had given him. I was following in my body, but my heart was kicking and screaming. It was the beginning of a new and exciting season for my husband, but for me, it was the death of so much that was familiar to me: living close to family, a job that I loved, and the fulfillment of buying our first home.   After arriving at an apartment complex I had not seen before, walking through church doors where I knew no one, and learning a city that was completely new territory, I wondered what the Lord had in store for us in this new place.   There was little about our years in Atlanta that was easy. My husband worked a full-time ministry job while also enrolled in seminary full-time. We longed for a baby who was not yet a part of our story. Finances were tight, our apartment felt small, and traffic was stressful. Yet when my husband and I look back on that season of early marriage, we talk about it with fondness because of the people the Lord put into our lives...  

The Gift of Intergenerational Relationships2026-05-12T16:51:43+00:00

Nothing to Hide: Encouraging Transparency in our Relationships

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST Nothing to fear. Nothing to prove. Nothing to hide. Nothing to fear. Nothing to prove. Nothing to hide. I kept repeating the words to myself as I sat down to lead our women’s Bible study. I had determined that night to share some things on my heart that were not easy to share. They were revealing. We were studying the process of biblical change using a booklet1 I often use as a biblical counselor. I was excited about sharing this great little treasure with my fellow women. But then came the conviction. In preparation, I was scanning the booklet’s section on repentance and when I read, not for the first time, that true repentance means actual turning from former ways, that is when the conviction struck. I recalled that many times lately, I had confessed to God and asked forgiveness for habitually staying up too late and then sleeping in too long. I complained in my heart about not having enough time to do things, and yet I was on my phone so much. And then there was the control that food often had over me. I was running to things other than Christ. This was not the first time I had felt this conviction...

Nothing to Hide: Encouraging Transparency in our Relationships2026-04-12T18:04:16+00:00

The Challenge and Hope of Love

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR My children and I have been working our way through a Scripture memory book this school year. Each week, we focus on a different verse, learning it together, memorizing it, playing a song related to it, and weaving it into our week. It’s been a sweet way for us to hide God’s Word in our hearts together. Last week, the passage was short and simple: “Love is patient. Love is kind” (1 Cor. 13:4). Although it was a simpler verse to memorize, it brought so much depth of conversation and meditation.   As my husband and I parent our children, we often talk about loving others. What does it mean to put our siblings before ourselves? How can we show kindness to our friends? How can we be patient when we have to wait for things? It’s woven into our parenting and our family values, but in my own heart, memorizing this passage with my children provoked some deeper feelings and struggles.   First Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” It’s easy to love my children when they are obeying me, to love my husband when he is serving me, to love my friends when they are treating me kindly, but what about all the times when it’s hard to love others?...  

The Challenge and Hope of Love2026-02-09T20:53:45+00:00

Scheduling Hospitality: Making Space for Others in Our Calendars

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST It was a Saturday, and I was tired and not feeling up to my to-do list. In a more energetic moment earlier in the week, my husband and I had invited some people to come over for lunch after church on Sunday. But suddenly it was the day before and I was second-guessing our decision because now I needed to go to the store, make food, and clean. I just wanted to take a nap and do whatever I liked. “What were we thinking?” I asked him, as I lugged out the vacuum. Flash forward to Sunday evening, the guests just left, and we plopped down on the couch, happy smiles on our faces. Did we regret scheduling them to come over? Not one bit. Whatever work we went through was worth it for the connection we felt and the joy of serving others, knowing we were helping them feel part of a family. We were already planning who we would invite next as we discovered joy in obeying I Peter 4:9: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Okay, well, I still needed to do some internal work on the Saturday afternoon grumbling part! Don’t Wait Until You Feel Like It...

Scheduling Hospitality: Making Space for Others in Our Calendars2026-01-24T17:16:10+00:00

Three Questions to Ask When Using AI

AMANDA DUVALL | GUEST Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere—in the news, in my internet searches and online shopping, and even my personal conversations. The advances and changes are coming so fast, I teeter between growing excited about how this tool will help me get more done and spiraling down a rabbit hole over all the ways technology is changing the world as we know it. In my limited usage, I’ve already found AI powerful and useful for a variety of tasks. AI has helped me get my one-year-old to sleep better, research for and edit work quicker, gain ideas to treat odd health symptoms, plan travel, and more. AI can do it all—in mere seconds! Still, there are so many moral and ethical concerns surrounding AI, regarding privacy and data, content and regulation, intellectual property rights, threats to creative work, relational confusion, and massive disruptions in education, the economy, and health care. It is easy to give in to fear and frankly, I prefer to delegate these concerns as “out there,” for someone else to unravel. I am just a normal nobody trying to keep up and figure out how to use AI to make life a little bit more manageable. Then, I remember the day I got my Facebook account. As a college freshman sitting in my dorm room, suddenly I was connected to college students across my campus and the country. Social media opened a world of possibilities, what could go wrong? We know so much more now than we did then about how social media affects our brains, our ability to focus, and our mental health, to name a few issues. Haven’t we learned our lesson, then? I’m not sure. Too often, we are so desperate to adopt a new technology with the promise of optimizing our lives without considering, “just because I can use it for all these things, should I? We need to be discerning, not just about how AI is changing our world, but also how it is changing us. With all this change spinning out of our control, we cling to the promise, “the Word of the Lord remains forever” (1 Peter 1:25). We can turn to Him in this, and in every situation. Here are three questions, grounded in what God tells us is good and true, to ask when using AI...

Three Questions to Ask When Using AI2025-11-13T21:20:17+00:00

Making Space for Others in Our Conversations

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST I walk into church and spot a new person. I know I should go over and engage her, but such actions often end in stilted exchanges or awkward pauses.  Making conversational space for people I don’t know well takes much more effort than the comfort of finding my seat or chatting easily with friends. Do I take the path of least resistance and avoid eye contact? Maybe I offer an acknowledging smile, but continue to my familiar chair? Or do I practice Christ-like hospitality and in love, make my way over to her? The Importance of Questions Proverbs 20:5 says, “The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” Practicing hospitality in our conversations and becoming a person of understanding takes… practice. Each person we come across is a unique individual made in God’s image with varying interests, experiences, knowledge, and giftings.  With the right question, we can tap into that well and the responses will begin to leak out.  Even just a little response gives us more direction to continue the questions and soon that well can become a flow of water. Good conversation creates a connection, resulting in feeling seen and heard.  It can make all the difference between being included or left on the outside. Why is that important? Because asking questions is a means to demonstrate Christ-like love. Ephesians 2:12 reminds us that we were separated, foreigners and strangers; we were outsiders until Christ initiated with us. The Importance of Good Questions...

Making Space for Others in Our Conversations2025-11-11T16:43:52+00:00

Redeeming the Time This New School Year

KRISTEN HATTON | GUEST With two children married and one entering his final year of college, I know how fast the years go by. And while we love the empty nester stage we are now in, I miss the activities that characterized our lives during my children’s growing up years. The school and sports-related activities, yes, but also the sitting down at the dinner table together, playing games, watching a TV series, relaxing by the pool, the laughter and noise. Worshipping together and discussing the sermon over Sunday lunch. The everyday conversations that come through normal family life together. Looking back, I see that the seemingly insignificant moments were actually the most important. These weren’t Instagrammable so the magnitude could easily be missed. But it was also not happenstance that the regular routines of daily life far exceeded any fleeting post as a shaping influence on our kids. Above everything, my husband and I wanted our kids to know their need for Jesus and his love for them. We wanted our family to be closely connected, to feel safe to be vulnerable and known by each other. To this end, even when we couldn’t see the forest for the trees, we endeavored to be intentional according to what we valued most. Our kids didn’t always like the decisions we made. I felt lonely at times swimming upstream against the culture. But by God’s grace we persevered, looking not to their temporal happiness (or ours), but toward a hope that they would root their lives in Christ. Certainly, there is no formula for ensuring a life of faith for our kids and the relationships we desire to cultivate. It is by the grace of God, and yet as parents we are called to diligently shepherd their hearts (Deut. 6:7). But it starts with us—with our hearts. Scripture tells us, “For where our treasure is there our heart will be also (Matt. 6:21).” Where our treasure is. Therefore, I encourage you to evaluate if and how your family rhythms point to and flow from your greatest treasure. And if not, how you might reorient those rhythms this school year. I’ve outlined below five considerations....

Redeeming the Time This New School Year2026-04-03T15:45:49+00:00
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