We found treasure in the sand (and celebrated like angels)

This week my family and I vacationed at the beach under the blazing sun, playing in the sand, jumping over the waves of the ocean, building sandcastles, and making sure to apply plenty of sunscreen. It was a challenge for my 11-year-old daughter, Giselle, for whom eyeglasses are a necessity. They’re essential for her to see clearly but the beach is the last place she needs to bring them. It’s too easy to lose them in the endless acres of sand or while playing in the crashing waves at high tide. When we got back to the parking lot yesterday,…

Two cops pulled me over, and one of them preached a sermon

February 2, 2020January 4, 2023 Categories: Growing PainsTags: faith · grace · lega

It was early in the morning in Washington, D.C., and I was driving down Montana Avenue about ten minutes from home. But suddenly, the blue lights of a police cruiser zoomed into the reflection of my review mirror. My stomach dropped. When I pulled over, the officer swerved his car off the road and pulled up behind me. Then he got out, swaggered over to my window, and peered in. “Do you know why I pulled you over?” “I have no idea,” I answered flatly as my heart raced.

A dance that showed me what real love looks like

January 11, 2020January 25, 2023 Categories: Growing PainsTags: adoption · grace · love

I have friends who adopted a little girl from another country, and their child has some significant disabilities that require her to wear a brace on her leg. You would think that fitting braces for a child’s leg wouldn’t be a difficult thing, but it has actually been a long process that has been debilitating and painful for her.

An unexpected answer when I asked God to end suffering in my life

February 3, 2019August 3, 2019 Categories: It's About TrustTags: faith · grace · suffering · waiting

I know someone who’s trapped in a dead-end job right now. He’s been there for years and he’s trying to make the best of it, but realistically, his resume is probably far too stale for him to get a different job for which he’s qualified. I know a woman who has an ongoing chronic condition that doctors can’t fix. You’d never know it if you met her — the embarrassing symptoms, the limitations. She longs for some medical breakthrough that will fix the problem, but there’s little hope for that and for whatever reason, God hasn’t healed her.

The unforgettable reason a dog named Spooky was saved

January 12, 2019 Categories: Loving Your NeighborTags: acceptance · grace · healing · love · sacrifice

My friend Ann was driving through the cemetery in the blazing heat one summer afternoon and her heart was heavy with grief. Her father had died four months before and nothing could shake her of the sense of loss – until suddenly, there was an interruption.

What happened when I said “thank you” to an unpopular cop

November 3, 2018 Categories: Loving Your NeighborTags: acceptance · grace · gratitude · judging · judgmentalism · love · rejection

One time, I met a D.C. traffic-directing cop in the line at the mall and I remarked how dangerous her job was. “I mean, people in D.C. drive so crazy,” I said. “You could get killed.” “Oh no,” she said, “don’t feel sorry for me. Feel sorry for the people in parking enforcement. They get screamed at, spat on, cursed out – you name it. It’s horrible.”

If you feel distracted in prayer, don’t worry—it’s a good thing

September 24, 2018 Categories: Growing PainsTags: grace · guilt · judging · prayer

So many times the same frustrating thing happens when I try to pray. “Heavenly Father,“ I say, but almost immediately I get interrupted by my own thoughts.

What happened the sixth time I went to the principal’s office

September 8, 2018 Categories: Loving Your NeighborTags: grace · gratitude · kids · parenthood

When I was in third grade, I had problems behaving. My heart was in the right place, but my good intentions didn’t make it to the surface a lot of the time. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to follow the rules.

What God does when He sees your broken wing

September 8, 2018January 25, 2023 Categories: Growing PainsTags: faith · grace · love · sin

One day when I was in my 20s, I was struggling with a lot of guilt and shame because I felt like the only thing God ever saw about me was my sin and brokenness. God must’ve told my mother. I came into the dining room where my mom was and she said, “Joshua, look at that angel up there on the shelf,” and then she pointed to a ceramic angel behind me.

In my brokenness I discovered I was loved

March 14, 2018February 2, 2022 Categories: Marriage · This and ThatTags: grace · gratitude · marriage

I sat on a bench in a beautiful cemetery visiting with the woman who would be my wife and tried to ignore my sad, racing heart. Our relationship was about to end — not because I wanted it to — because she was about to learn the awful truth. “There’s something I need to tell you,” I said.

What did Jesus say about natural disasters?

September 10, 2017 Categories: It's About TrustTags: death · faith · grace

Several years ago in my hometown, a man was driving down the highway with his wife when a tree fell down across the highway, landed right on the cab of their pickup truck, and killed them both. Later that week, I was in a church service in which the pastor referenced the freak accident and said, “Do you think that kind of thing happened by accident? There’s no way.”

The One Person We’re Proud to Judge

July 5, 2017July 6, 2017 Categories: Growing PainsTags: grace · guilt · judgmentalism

I pushed the elderly woman in the wheelchair and started our conversation but I knew I had to whisper. For this college sophomore, the workplace had become a tricky arena in which to talk about Jesus.

God Isn’t Just in Your Heart

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 Categories: It's About TrustTags: faith · grace · healing · Holy Spirit · suffering

I have this one childhood memory that used to haunt me. When I was in first grade, a careless adult did a great deal of damage with very little effort and it seemed like the hurt from that incident couldn’t be undone.

I Didn’t Realize He Was My Real Dad

May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 Categories: It's About TrustTags: faith · grace · healing · kids · parenthood

One Sunday morning when I was in my early 20s, my mom came up to me after church and said something that stuck with me: “I notice you always pray to Jesus. You should think about calling God ‘Father.’” I thanked her for her input but it agitated me a little. I was more comfortable keeping things on a first-name basis with the Lord and starting all of my prayers with “Dear Jesus.” I didn’t like the way it felt to address God as my male parental figure. I already had a father-son relationship and it was complicated.

The Girl Who Got Pulled Around by Her Ponytail

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 Categories: It's About TrustTags: conflict · forgiveness · grace · healing · prayer · sin · Singleness · temptation1 Comment

One time I was at the bus stop and I saw a woman take her daughter by the ponytail, pull up, and force her to move down the sidewalk. As the girl walked forward, she tried to reach up and pull her mother’s hand away, to no avail. As the little girl cried and begged her mother to stop, a man standing nearby laughed about it, and the mother began laughing, too.

Joshua Rogers

Finding God in the Ordinary

Tag: grace