I wore make-up to church last week for the first time in many years, since I first stepped out of the shower one day deciding to no longer consider this face created by God not good enough for the general public. I decided to stop adding my fingerpaints to his masterpiece. But this particular Sunday, only ten days ago, I was not penciling in eyeliner to highlight my eyes, but to hide them. That mascara – the word that literally means “mask” – was my mask that day, my  ...

Not long ago, I wrote about a lame man made made whole – healed by God through the hands of the apostles. I discussed how beautiful it can be when we truly display the healing God has brought into our lives – allowing our full restoration to not be hidden, but to allow our mended cracks to shine brightly for His glory. But there’s another side to this coin. It’s a side Paul discussed often – what he called his “thorn in the flesh.” We don’t  ...