When I was in college, I spent some time working on becoming a Bible study leader through my campus fellowship. At some point, I realized I had become rather legalistic in my faith, kind of focusing first on if I was “believing the right way” or basically doing everything right. And while yes, we should strive to always do the right thing based on what Jesus calls us to do in His word, I was getting stuck in tiny decisions…

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In July I had the experience of a lifetime in birthing our perfect and beautiful daughter Giulietta. Everything about it was just mystically magical, beautiful, awesome and reflective of God’s overwhelmingly thoughtful design and love. To say it was life-changing is an absolute understatement, and one of the ways that life change surprised me most was the intense range of emotions it brought on.

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“If I truly am content in God, why am I hurting so much right now? If I truly love God more than I love convenient circumstances, why are these current circumstances breaking me down so much? Maybe the growth I thought I experienced this summer was really just feeling close to God because my life was easier and more restful than it normally is.”

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Not always does this “honor” refer to honoring someone through kindness or help, but in many ways, such as showing honor by choosing to seek understanding instead of judging; showing patience when someone makes a mistake; offering forgiveness when hurt; apologizing first after an argument; commending people on their hard work when you notice it; standing up for others; paying attention to things others do behind the scenes and encouraging them in their efforts.

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Tis the season for holiday music. If you’re anything like me, it’s all you’ll listen to till at least mid-January (I am not very good at accepting the end of the holidays and the start of the holiday-less part of winter…). My favorites are the Charlie Brown Christmas album and every piece in the Nutcracker. This season, a classic and an old favorite caught my eye (ear?) and made me think about a few things in a new way: The Little Drummer Boy!

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The past few months I’ve been making a new effort to take my speech seriously. My efforts originally came from making sure I was only contributing Christ-honoring speech if a conversation I was part of turned to gossip, judgment, unkindness, etc. But after thinking about it, it only became more relevant as I thought of how we speak to one another day to day amid hostility that has seemed to increase over time.

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