I sat in the darkened ultrasound room, three stories up in a 15-story office building in downtown Denver, waiting to see yet another maternal fetal medicine doctor. I was 37 weeks pregnant, and was feeling pretty confident after the growth scan ultrasound. Of course, the stenographers aren’t allowed to tell you much, but after so…
Day 18: The Gift of Hope
Anticipation is the best part of Christmas, at least for a child. Half of the wonder and joy of it all is counting down the days, seeing the presents pile up under the tree, and preparing — all for that one day. Our Christian hope is a lot like that, only Christmas day ends while…
Day 2 Christmas is About the Gospel
A tiny baby is born into a manger. His parents stand in silent adoration. Shepherds hurry from their fields to see the child. A special star arises to show his location. Nobility from the east travel to bring him presents. A local king sees the threat and attempts to kill him, but not before his…
Discovering the Inner Ring
“The quest of the Inner Ring will break your hearts unless you break it,” C.S. Lewis wrote in his not-as-well known but nonetheless brilliant speech, “The Inner Ring.” This Ring is something we all discovered around middle school, if not earlier, when we first observed peers pairing off and desperately wanted to be a part….
Empowered or Servant-Minded?
I’ve been consuming a lot of blogs and podcasts lately on natural birth, hungry to get my hands on whatever information I can get that might prepare me for the great unknown of labor and birth. Along the way, I’ve noticed a theme: empowerment. The message of today’s birth consultants and doulas disguises entitlement under…
On Becoming
There are days I just wish I could go back to the way I used to be. I used to be able to get up early, have cleaned the whole house and made a dinner plan by 8 am, completed all my marketing work, ran three miles, and be finished by 1 pm. One friend…
Our Exciting News
“Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill He treasures up his bright designs And works His sovereign will.” — William Cowper “This doesn’t feel real,” I thought to myself. I was sitting on the floor, watching the timer on the phone count two minutes, three minutes, five minutes. Yes, both lines were still there. It’s…
For That Day
A wedding poem I pulled out my wedding dress the other day, the dress we’d spent hours to perfect — For just one day. It was stained dirt and grass clinging, Attracted to the white — In just one day. Tediously, I began to clean And wondered — Is this how I appear? To Christ,…
Just & Justifier — Time Alone with God Study (PDF)
Setting aside time alone with God isn’t just about you coming away renewed and refreshed; it’s about offering to God spiritual worship by setting our hearts on Him. Scheduling in specific time — whether it’s an hour or a half day — leaves us the mental space to truly spend undistracted time with him the…
A God-Entranced World
I shift my car into fourth gear, then third, then second, then first, following the glaring brake lights of the car in front of me. Traffic in the middle of the day … it’s becoming normal in Denver. What I didn’t realize was that I’d be parked for an hour with the highway completely shut…
Is Our Culture Placing Too Much Pressure? Part 2
We are constantly feeling guilty about things that are not sinful, they’re just part of being a creature. And when we get confused between our finitude and sin, it actually distorts the Christian life. It distorts our worship, it distorts what Christian faithfulness looks like, in our relationships. – Kelly Kapic In my last blog…
Is Our Culture Placing Undo Pressure on Girls?
Is there a reason for the seeming rise in health issues in young ladies? From both my observations and personal experience, I would argue unneeded stress plays a role in many hormonal, digestive, and adrenal issues many of us face. While there are certainly physical factors (and doctors are great!), what impact would exchanging the…
Duty, Drudgery, and Joy
“Coming from my denominational background, I’ve always seen Christianity as more of a duty,” one young woman recently shared with me. She attended church, read her Bible occasionally, but only out of a sense of duty. She knew intellectually that the only way for her to be fulfilled was in Christ, but confessed, “I know…
The Secret Place of the Stairs
I originally wrote this article three years ago, when I was in college and going through a tough season of disappointment. I’ve waited to publish until now — because the lessons God taught be then were so real but painful they were hard to share. But I’m so grateful for those seasons looking back and…
Guarding Your Heart by Guarding Your Worship
“Guard your heart!” Like most teenage girls, my parents’ reminder was not something I was always eager to hear when my thoughts started fantasizing about a guy. Of course, I knew everything they had told me about the dangers of giving your heart away to the wrong one. I knew well the analogy of the…
What Can I Give Him?
Navigating her way through the crowded streets, Mary pushed through groups of chattering women, baskets of fresh olives and dates at their sides or perched atop their flowing headdresses. Children darted through, narrowly missing upsetting a cart of eggs. Mary shook her head, her eyes intently scanning the colorful array of booths, carts, and storefronts….
Barry & Julianna – Our Story
We’re engaged! I am so humbled and grateful to the Lord for bringing such a godly man into my life, and can’t wait walk through life together — with all its joys, trials, ministry opportunities, and adventure! Today on my blog, I wanted to share a little bit of our story. I still remember vividly…
Reaching Beyond Myself – Practical Steps for Discipling Girls
Hi friends! I had the blessing of getting to give a talk at a study for teenage girls based on the book, Reaching Beyond Myself. So I’m excited to get to share the recording of that talk on my blog today! -Julianna
Because Christ is Shalom
Sleeves rolled up and sponge in hand, I was scrubbing the bathroom floor when I heard my 7-year-old nanny boy timidly call, “Julianna?” I turned around to face him, knowing he’d just been let out of his room from a talking back incident we’d had earlier. “Will you forgive me?” He said it softly, with…
Julianna’s 2021 Top Reads
Hope you enjoy this short video sharing my top reads for the year! If you had any books you loved this year, please comment below! I’d love to hear! -Julianna
Minister to Whoever is in Front of You
I had just unloaded the suburban and filed all the kids into our local children’s museum, (basically a one-room play area a local church put together for outreach). “Finally, I get a break,” I thought, settling down onto the couch. I’m currently nannying four children eleven and under, which makes for some long days and…
The Lord’s Hand in the Details
It’s been a while since I’ve written. I could blame the busyness of life, but in reality, it’s harder for lessons and observations to emerge in the middle of the battle, having to trust the Lord a day at a time. The best battle accounts and letters home come after the battle, not in the…
Day 31: Christ is the Gospel
Advent is over, the long-awaited Christmas day here. This waiting, hoping, anticipating has been not for an event or celebration — but a person. For the glory of Christmas is Christ. And just like it’s easy to miss the baby in the manger amid the gifts, lights, and celebration, so it’s often easy to miss that…
Day 30: The Gospel for Our Joys
Is your heart joyful this Christmas Eve? Then there is no better tune to sing to than the beautiful melody of the gospel. As we’ve journeyed the many beautiful applications the truth of Christ’s exhaustive, redemptive work has on our lives this advent, I pray that the gospel has indeed made you joyful. The truth…
Day 29: The Wonder of the Ordinary
Have you ever been struck by the nondescript, matter-of-fact telling of the Christmas story in Matthew 1? I could only imagine my response if one of my students handed in story with similar lines: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.” “Now the birth of Jesus came about in this way.” “And they returned…
Day 28: The Gospel for My Service
I was astounded. Maybe it was obvious to most people, but I had never thought of it before. I still vividly remember painting the hallway in my family’s house three or four years ago and listening to an “Ask Pastor John” podcast that rocked my world. Somehow, I had carried around the idea that even…
Day 27: The Gospel for our ‘Goodness”
I need the gospel most when I am feeling best about myself. Ironically, that’s the least likely moment for me to think about it! A thousand times a day, I experience firsthand the reality that “the heart is deceitful above all things” (Jer. 17:9), as I depend on my own confidence or abilities to survive…
Day 26: The Gospel for our Relational Longings
Christmas is a painful season for many, for the more family and home and love are celebrated, the more we feel our lack. Whether you’re feeling the loss of a loved one, the straining of a broken relationship, or a thousand other reasons for loneliness and pain, Christmas can indeed be hard. There’s something about…
Day 25: The Gospel for our Angst
Angst describes our world – and too often our own hearts — so well: a deep feeling of unsettledness, discontent, or brokenness. It’s often difficult to identify the cause, but whether we let it out (“I’m crying and have no idea why!”) or hold it inside, the problem doesn’t solve itself. Why am I bringing…
Day 24: The Gospel for our Disunity
As I write this, my home state is in an uproar about a recent shooting at a night club, followed by widespread demonstrations of support for “diversity,” and the vandalism of a well-known Christian ministry for their supposed hate of non-traditional identities. The whole event is tragic on many levels, including the hurling of five…
Day 23: The Gospel for our Shame
“What you’re feeling isn’t true,” I reminded one young lady after she shared with me how a particular hurt in her past made her feel unrelenting shame for something she wasn’t responsible for. It’s easy for an observer, like I was, to point that out, plain and simple. Sometimes, that’s what we need — someone…
Julianna Writes 