In her book Grit, Angela Duckworth explores how much talent matters in achieving success, as compared to good old hard work. Duckworth is the founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit whose mission is to advance scientific insights that help children thrive. Her research uncovered an insight, which she …

The alarm I rarely hear went off. My husband Andrew and I agreed to rise early to “parallel pray” before the day got going. I felt his nudge, “Time to wake up.” In mornings prior, I intended to wake up early to pray, but ultimately discerned that Jesus must want …

Some Christmas mornings I wake up feeling spiritually underwhelmed. I don’t feel the holy wonder at the miracle of God being born upon Earth but instead feel disappointment in my own lack of real, faithful preparation for the Nativity. The previous weeks were spent fretting over decorating and shopping and …