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Jesus offers us compassion. Many of us understand this on an intellectual level, which is a good thing—it is important to know that Jesus is compassionate. But perhaps that intellectual understanding is just the beginning of letting our lives and … [Read more...] about A Compassionate High Priest

The other day when I came home after work, I had to finish up a freelance project. Then, I needed to do a superfast grocery run (at rush hour!) because a friend was coming over the next day. Then, I had to give two piano lessons. After that—it was … [Read more...] about To The Heavy Laden

At the top of the first line of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique reads the Italian word grave. The chords are supposed to linger in the air in that slow solemn tempo, but when I was studying the piece in preparation for a college audition, I … [Read more...] about A God Who Weeps

“I probably wouldn’t apply for these scholarships. They are for people who want to change the world,” my college advisor said. He flipped through my résumé and then paused to make eye contact with me. Point taken. But am I supposed to change the … [Read more...] about Am I supposed to change the world?

The seminar was called Honors 102. A mismatched collection of old dining chairs surrounded a large pine table covered with etchings from students long before my time. The windows, one on each end of the room, displayed the large white columns of the … [Read more...] about What I Learned in Honors 102

When I moved out of my parents' house to Atlanta, GA, my mother gave me a flower vase. It was clear glass with diagonal etchings in it, and it sat under my sink for ten months until my birthday last year, when my boyfriend of six weeks showed up at … [Read more...] about A Necessary Extravagance

When I think about lions, I imagine a fierce, magnificent, beautiful creature prowling around the Serengeti. It has total control; its mane and fur are the color of the sun itself, and its sharp teeth deter prey. Proverbs describes lions as “the … [Read more...] about At the Watering Hole

Last summer, I needed a gift for a friend, and the obvious possibilities—a giftcard to JCrew, a giftcard to Banana Republic, a giftcard to Target—didn’t strike a chord. Trying to think of other things my friend liked, I remembered his admiration of … [Read more...] about Drawing Hudson Taylor

The fresh snow on top of the lake was so deep that I wasn’t sure where the lake started and where the beach ended. In fact, until I got on my hands and knees, dug through the snow, and hit a cold brick of clear ice, I didn’t believe that I was … [Read more...] about At Magic Reservoir

I can open my Bible to Psalm 37 in the dark. It’s because I stained the pages with tears six years ago, and now, as if in memorial to what the Psalm did for me then, their wrinkles remain, like capillaries in the sand left by a dried river. I can … [Read more...] about God, Do You Still Love Me?

In Genesis, Abraham and Sarah grapple with the pain of having no children. Although God promised they would become a great nation (Genesis 12:2; 15:5), the waiting became agonizing, and Sarah gave Abraham her servant Hagar in an effort to accomplish … [Read more...] about When Hope is Hard

When I was in college, a large portion of my identity was wrapped up in what my professors thought of me. I desperately wanted to be seen as intelligent, and I would get nervous before meeting with them, pour myself into my work, and agonize as I … [Read more...] about An Identity in Christ

Perhaps one of the saddest scenes of the Biblical narrative is in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden. We read: …the Lord God sent Adam out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove … [Read more...] about Hope After Eden