I am going to step out on a limb here and talk about one of my biggest embarrassments as a Christian.

It can be summed up in a word that militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Dan Dennet use to slam Christians: "Sheeple."

I recently received an email from a friend, with three words that kept me going at a time when I wanted to give up writing.

Amazing the power in three words coming to me at just the right time.

I have been learning recently that we are not to seek the approval of others, as we serve Christ, yet the Bible clearly instructs us to encourage one another. Isn’t it an interesting paradox that we are not to grope for approval, but we do require encouragement? I have concluded, then, that there must be a powerful, God-mandated, appropriate method of encouragement.

Like any holiday, Mother’s Day is sweet for some and bitter for others. For some, it’s both. I remember feeling on the outside looking in on Mother’s Day, first as a single woman and then after I miscarried our first pregnancy. Our church had an entrance near the nursery called the Family Entrance. Could I use it? Were we a family? I finally just used it regardless, almost as an act of defiance. Now as the mother of a 3 and 5 year old, I can deeply appreciate someone setting aside parking near an entrance that kept me from having to walk my little ones across a busy intersection. But at the time I was dealing with emotions that weren’t swayed by practical realities. I just wanted to be a mom. And that sign at the church entrance reminded me I wasn’t.