An unpopular opinion about stress: its helpful: Eliza Huie explains, “Stress can be a powerful motivator, helping us achieve goals and feel accomplished. This positive form of stress, known as eustress, is a natural part of life. It happens during exciting experiences like riding a roller coaster, running a race, or starting a new job. Eustress is short-term, focusing our energy and enhancing our performance. It’s an example of how God designed our bodies to help us succeed.”
Beware of preaching a Christian failure narrative: More than just preachers should heed Rod Casey’s warning. He explains that A Christian failure narrative is, “is the constant background noise from the pulpit insisting that things are getting worse, our entitled rights are at risk, we’re not doing enough, everywhere pastors are failing morally, and the whole world is going to hell in a hurry. Our tone is pessimistic, and our rhetoric is fatalistic. Our intention may be to motivate. We hope to persuade. Yet I fear the outcome is ultimately self-sabotage.”
All those things we never did: Kristin reflects on thirty years of marriage, “The waves of suffering that threatened to drown in fact became the impetus, the crash and pull, that God used to jolt my soul awake, stirring up not only the sands of affliction but of affection. For Christ.”
Exposed to hope: Andrea Sanborn reflects on hospitality that led her to Christ, “Things were hard at home, though, and one evening my parents sat my sister and me down in the living room, serious. Mom was leaving. My stomach clenched. My sister, five years older and in high school, began to cry. My world turned upside down. Kathy’s family heard what happened and invited me to stay with them until Dad could figure out what to do. So I packed a few things and came, shaken and tearful.”
The 50 best breakfast cereals of all time: The author of this list has a major sweet tooth! Even though mine would look a lot different, I still found this fun.

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