Family is so important to Mike Pence that his wife and daughter were by his side the entire day of January 6, as insurrectionists sought to take his life at the U.S. Capitol. “Not very many people know my wife,…
What are you wearing to Thanksgiving dinner this year?
You’ve heard of Hot Girl Summer. You’ve heard of Christian Girl Autumn. Tis the season for the Thanksgiving Outfit. Back in 2016, as many American women remember well, the brown button-up skirt made its way across stores and into our…
November 22, 1963, took my life in a new direction
November 22, 1963, was a Friday. It began normally. I was a junior at Tallulah High School in Tallulah, Louisiana. After lunch that day we were scheduled to attend an assembly in the gymnasium. Between lunch and the assembly word…
Study finds Americans’ understanding of ‘family’ is changing
What does the idea of “family” mean anymore? According to a new national research, Americans’ ideas of marriage and family are changing and people have mixed feelings about how that will affect the future. Pew Research Center released a new…
‘Nobody wants to be an addict’
During a recent Spirituality in Recovery group at Costello House, a recovery living ministry for men, I asked residents if they would be willing to answer a few questions about their experiences with addiction and recovery. September is National Recovery…
Now I know my grandmother was a person, not just an event
Note: This article includes graphic descriptions of suicide. In my life, she wasn’t a person. She was an event. My mother’s mother ended her own life with a shotgun blow to the head. It’s a conversation stopper if there ever…
The sacrament of the Southern summer shore
Growing up in a doubly landlocked state, we were lake people. When my sixth grade Girl Scout troop went to Savannah and Tybee Island, many of the girls never had seen the ocean before. Instead of beach trips, people would…
South Africa’s matchmaking churches wildly popular, hope to stem gender violence
More than 6,000-worshippers from all over South Africa and nearby countries have gathered at Apostle Joshua Mohlala’s Shekinah Healing Ministries church premises in Cape Town, not for a spiritual service but to find partners. The best-known matchmaking church in South…
Why I’m investing my inheritance in women in ministry
Eleven years ago, when I became senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo., my cousin wrote on my Facebook page, “You have shamed our family.” I wasn’t really surprised by her reaction. After all, my extended family was…