Two of my favorite people in the world had birthdays this week.

Here are 6 things I learned from my two pals:

1. Faithfulness in the details matters

My friend Rachael is a mom of three crazy boys, (I’ve written about Ben, the middle kiddo, before).  Here’s what I know from watching her life: motherhood is hard.  But, if the heart is faithful, there is glory in every detail.

Rachael believes that investing her full heart and energy in whatever is in front of her will change the world.  I have never known someone who fights so deeply to do all things to the glory of God.

Yesterday I shared three books I’ve been reading this summer that have significantly challenged and grown me in my faith.

One of them was A Call to Spiritual Reformation by Carson.

So great guys.  So great.

It’s had me processing a lot about the way I encourage others.

I tend to pendulum swing between these two tendencies:  

(1) encouraging people in a way that makes much of them

The backslapping flatterer constantly compliments everyone.  Regardless of the quality of the work, this extrovert comes alongside and bellows “terrific job!” “Wonderful piece of work.” “Never seen flowers better arranged!” “I don’t know how the ushers would get by if it were not for your contribution.”

Happy Father’s Day.

What a complicated story our God is writing.

He is writing it through your father and mine.  He is writing it through the perfect dads out there and the broken and absent men.

Esther seems the perfect book to read on Father’s Day.

It’s a story of twisted circumstances, turned so strangely for the deliverance of God’s people.  It’s confusing to me.  The King decrees the Jews be killed and instead of just changing the King’s mind, God engineers a crazy series of random events to rescue His people.  Why the complicated plot?  Why the intrigue and drama?