One summer in college, I worked at a daycare center with three year olds. Daniel was a little tow-headed boy who always seemed to have dirt on his shirt and jam on his face. He was a handful, and I admit, not one of my favorites. My co-workers explained that his parents were in the midst of a messy divorce and it was really hard on Daniel and his brother, David, a two-year-old in the next room...

Are your desires to be trusted or not? As little children, when we became hungry, we desired food, cried, were fed, and stopped eating when we’d had enough. But over time, many of us learned that food could also alter the way we feel—could excite our taste buds, give us comfort, wake us up or help us to sleep. So, in addition to hunger, we learned to go to the refrigerator with other desires, too...

We learn pretty early on that the more attractive you are, the more love you’ll get. Or at least the more attention you’ll get (and that can feel a close second to love sometimes, especially if love is in low supply). So it’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in trying to look good. Wear these clothes, lose weight, build muscle, make your teeth whiter, make your hair smoother, smell better, and on it...

Are you longing for a rich and meaningful Christmas, something more than consumerism, busy-ness, over-indulgence, lines, traffic, perfectionism, and a blur of activity? God, I am. If you are, too, I want to invite you to practice something with me this Advent, something that may at first sound counter-intuitive and even unspiritual. I want to invite you to think a lot about your body. Wait, what...

It might just be that I’ve got four daughters, but from my vantage point, girls today have it tough. The world they’re growing up in… Portrays a very narrow view of beauty—one that doesn’t represent most women. Gives a numeric way to rate their self-worth: more followers and likes on social media = more value. Tethers self-worth to a man’s (or men’s) attention. Tethers self-worth to some version...