Heart

by Elizabeth Laing Thompson I crossed the finish line, legs burning, lungs heaving, and found my dad in the crowd. He held up eight fingers with a sad smile, and my heart sank. I’d finished eighth out of all the girls on my cross-country team. One spot shy of top seven. One spot shy of a place on the postseason roster. My season was over. At home that night, I wrestled with my body’s limits—and my heart. While I knew God empathized with my disappointment and grief, I also

by Grace Fox Every January for a decade, I attended a week-long retreat for Christian authors. Friendships grew deep as we set aside our writing projects to prioritize our physical and spiritual health with like-minded women. For me, one of the highlights was hearing others’ personal stories. The common thread woven throughout the tapestry of testimonies was unmistakable: Each of the thirty or so women in the room had experienced soul-deep suffering. One woman recalled sp

by Morgan Krueger I look in the mirror, noticing the fine lines on my forehead that seem to be a little more prominent after a day of meetings, mothering, crying, laughing, and making only God knows how many silly faces to get a laugh out of my two boys. I step a little closer to my reflection to see if the lines are really as “bad” as they look from where I’m standing. They’re not . . . they’re worse. My husband, Ryan, calls out to me from the kitchen for a helping hand, s