The God who counts each strand of hair also knows the weight of every debt, the stories we hope no one asks to hear. He knows the moment shame learned our name, the pains that tighten the chest at night, the memory we replay and wish undone. And still He does not turn away. He draws closer. Love leaning in. He sees the roads not taken, the words we swallowed, the doors we didn’t open because fear spoke louder than hope. He knows the ache of what might have been, the invitatio

While we were working at one of our campgrounds, I had a special request to make an “ugly sweater.” Little did I know just how difficult this would be for me. I’ve made a similar sweater before, so that wasn’t the trouble. I know how to crochet. I know how to put the pieces together to form the sweater. The actual work wasn’t the hard part. Much to my surprise, the most difficult part for me was creating something that wasn’t perfect. As surprising as this was, it

Every time I read about the woman who came to the well at noon (John 4), I don’t just read her story…I feel it. I’ve lived it. The hiding, the shame, the fear of being seen too closely. And yet, just like her, I found Jesus waiting for me in the very place I tried to disappear. I know what it feels like to walk to the “well at noon.” To show up in the heat because the shadows felt safer, because silence felt easier than facing what people might think if they knew the whole tr