We grow when the walls press in. We grow when life steals our control. We grow in the darkness.

Jesus often calls us to risk. He asks us to be vulnerable, to be authentic, so others can see Him in and through us.

When the world careens out of control, we can rest in the fact that God spun this world with a simple word. Matter from emptiness. Beauty from void. Community from chaos.

A broken person understands she needs rescue, and she depends on God to resurrect and deliver. And she also understands that even if God chooses not to deliver, His ways are higher and more amazing then what we can fathom.

Worry is a weighty monster with poisoned tentacles. It clutches at us, grabs at our minds, steals our breath, our will. It lurks. It pounces. It colors how we perceive the world.

As I look back over my mountains of growth and compare them to the molehills where I stagnated, community often made the difference.

A hopeful book that moms will relish, Blue Like Playdough is an honest, peel-back-the-covers look at the creative way God shapes us through childhood and parenthood. Tricia Goyer explores her own weaknesses along the journey, revealing her desire to serve the God who forms strength and joy and perseverance within her. A compelling, fresh read.