Tag Archives | Hope

Are You A Spoiled Little Rich Girl?

Think about the last time you didn’t get your way. How did you respond? Here’s an honest example from my life. When I launched my book, there was a part of me that wanted paramount success: the New York Times Best-Seller list and an interview on Good Morning America. I wanted the Golden Goose and I felt the tension growing inside of me when it didn’t happen immediately. And the feeling of course isn’t limited to that example alone. Sometimes, it’s as trivial as traffic or my children’s refusal […]

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A Letter to my Son, Matthew: Part 2

Read: A Letter to Matthew: Part 1 Our struggle to conceive was certainly a reminder that you were a gift from Him. Even before you were born, He knew this would be your name. Matthew means gift of God. “Meme” chose it for her son for a reason, her reason. Your mom and I chose it for our own. Some will call it southern and others may call it traditional. For us, there was no other name: Matthew Derrick Ham, Jr. […]

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A Letter to my Son, Matthew: Part 1

It’s raining outside. Actually, it’s pouring. The repetitive patter creates a rhythmic backdrop for thought. The occasional roar of thunder breaks the pattern. I’m alone with my thoughts and Him. This is my personal sanctuary. This morning, the rain reminds me of His grace, His life-giving hope to an otherwise dying soul. Has it really been five years? Is my little boy really five years old? I can hardly stomach the thought. Whoever wrote the words, “Time is on your side,” […]

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Back to the ’90s

In the 1980s we fell in love with Marty McFly, time travel, and DeLoreans. Thanks to Stephen Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, and a host of others, Back to the Future was one of the most iconic movies of the decade and one of the best-selling trilogy series of all-time. I was born in the ’80s, but the decade following would be the decade of my generation. Wedged between the end of Generation X and the beginning of Generation Y were, the Nineties. I recently caught […]

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Your Story Matters

I once had coffee with a lady who told me that she struggled to believe that her story mattered. In the busy pace of raising kids and trying to be a good Christian, she had been beaten down by the lie that none of it mattered. And the truth is, I’ve had that conversation way too many times. Not only with countless people over coffee, but with myself. But what I’m learning more than anything else is that someone else’s hope rests […]

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Hope in Our Darkest Places

He found himself in The Garden of Gethsemane. It is the night before He is going to be crucified. The cross awaits, His torture and punishment for crimes He did not commit. It will be His act of love, carried out through His obedience, even to death. Yet, this night, Jesus wants another way. And He pleads to the Father. Do you know this place? It is the place where it’s always nighttime and you’re terrified, where the darkness of lies and hopelessness […]

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A Life You Can’t Earn

Just last night Liz and I watched the final scene from the epic World War II tribute, Saving Private Ryan. The story tells of an Army Ranger unit that is charged with the task of searching for and saving Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), a fellow Army paratrooper, from behind enemy lines. The Ranger’s Captain, John Miller, played by Tom Hanks, leads his squad on the rescue mission and finds Private Ryan. As they seek refuge, they learn that the Germans […]

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