"In the beginning…" Have you ever noticed that some of the most heartbreaking stories begin that way? In the beginning, he was so nice and sweet. In the beginning, I thought it was just a cold. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Yes, there's something heartbreaking about the Bible, because in the beginning was perfection. And then, with a single, willful act, perfection was ruined. The place humanity belonged was stripped away and our perfect union with

*WARNING* Mild spoilers can be found in the explanation below the videos. If you have not yet read A Lady of Esteem you might want to save this post for later. This has been a powerful song for me personally over the years. It is all too easy to beat ourselves up over the past. Anthony holds himself down for the things he's done while Amelia harbors her own form of self-recrimination based on what life has thrown at her over the years. The second verse in particular played in

*WARNING* Mild spoilers can be found in the explanation below the videos. If you have not yet read A Lady of Esteem you might want to save this post for later. The best I could find is an unofficial lyrics video. There's little question that Amelia's life seems to be a series of tragedies. One broken piece after another, she's done the best she can. One of the things I loved about writing A Lady of Esteem was letting God work in Amelia's life to create something better than s

*WARNING* Mild spoilers can be found in the explanation below the videos. If you have not yet read A Lady of Esteem you might want to save this post for later. This is another video that really isn't a video. Feel free to lose your eyes and listen to the lyrics. If you've read the book you don't have to reach too far to find where this song inspired the story. Anthony carries the weight of past sin despite the fact that God has forgiven him for all of it. Too often we keep re

*WARNING* Mild spoilers can be found in the explanation below the videos. If you have not yet read A Lady of Esteem you might want to save this post for later. There isn't really much of a video for this song, but you can still listen. Amelia is a reflection of so many of us that only want a place to belong yet are too fearful to reach out and find one. We've been disappointed so many times that we're convinced the only way to escape hurt is to not expect anything. That creat

*WARNING* Mild spoilers can be found in the explanation below the video. If you have not yet read A Lady of Esteem you might want to save this post for later. This is a beautiful acoustic version of a song that was actually part of the inspiration for the entire Hawthorne House series. All too often we think our pasts have made us ugly, our shortcomings have made us unusable, our failures are set in stone. As the song states, we are constantly being made new. When we give our

Based on 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 If you've ever given up a bad habit, you've experienced "The Look". It drifts over the features of well-meaning family and friends. It flashes across the face of acquaintances and co-workers. It's that momentary glimpse of the fact that some part of them expects you to falter. After all a cheetah can't change his spots and a zebra can't alter his stripes and whatever other animal they choose to attribute the inability to change to, well, it can'