Are We Missing the Point of Lent?

From a distance, Lent appeared to be a time of forced obedience when people tried to “clean themselves up” by fasting or going for extra church services. It felt less like a special season of the Christian life and more like an attempt to “schedule time with God.”

Dumbo: A Trumpeting Call to Defend the Weak

Tim Burton’s adaptation of Dumbo had me in a flood of tears, and it was not tears of joy that flowed freely down my cheeks.

I Thought I Would Never Forgive

When I got married and moved in with my husband’s family, there were many conflicts. I was immature and hot-tempered, and exchanged many harsh words with my in-laws.

Autism Awareness Day: How I Learned to Enter into Their World

He was having a very bad day. Something in his routine had changed. He was screaming, crying, and dashing around, hitting out at tables, the walls, and even his forehead. As his distress level escalated, he started grabbing my shirt and pulling at my hair. When he scratched me amid the tugging, I held him at his wrists and said with a steady voice, “Ouch, it’s painful.”

I Learned the Secret to Time Management

It was late afternoon. I was still at my computer, supposedly editing an article our website needed soon. My son was noisily racing his toy cars across the living room floor—an audible reminder that I hadn’t had time to play with him that afternoon. I also still needed to plan and cook dinner at some point before my husband and sister came home from work.

3 Signs Your Emotions Are Ruling Your Life

It took everything in me not to text back. I turned my phone off in vehement protest. I would not let my emotions get the best of me. I would not be that person who was reckless with their words.

Where Our Love Story Went Wrong

“What do you find the greatest joy in?”

I paused, thinking about what puts a smile on my face, what keeps me going every day, and what gives me the most happiness.

“I suppose I find the greatest joy . . . in you,” I said softly.

“Me too.”

I Stopped Avoiding Negative Emotions

I’ve always disliked being emotional. Perhaps it started when I watched my parents fight as a child. I never understood how a simple discussion over loading the dishwasher or cooking dinner could explode into a fight that might last for days.

When I Couldn’t Sleep At Night

I had a heavy cold one Sunday night, and by nine o’clock—an unimaginably early hour—I was beginning to feel sleepy. So I hurriedly got ready for bed, and was tucked in before 10.

What the K-Pop Sex Scandal Reveals About Us

“I once idolized you and thought you were one of the coolest celebrities on earth. Yucks . . . you really can’t judge one based on what he shows to the media. I’m utterly disgusted and disappointed,” wrote a netizen commenting on the recent K-pop scandals.

The Daily Grind

Join Con Campbell in Melbourne on March 20 & 21 to discover what the daily grind is all for. For more info visit https://odb.org/thedailygrind

Christchurch Shootings: Hope Amidst Tragedy

On Friday afternoon, 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant had opened fire in two Christchurch mosques, resulting in the deaths of 51 people, and injuring another 40.

Social Media Outage: Can I Survive Without the Internet?

I thought my Facebook account had been hacked when I failed to log on to it this morning.

The disruption was one of Facebook’s most “widespread and persistent system outages”—with the outage stretching beyond 10 hours for some.