Now is the time for us to really listen to the complex stories and to get to know the hurting image bearers who face what seem like impossible decisions, and to lean into those stories with grace, and love, and help, in humility. Oh how beautiful the church could be in this moment!

Next year though, just you wait and see. I am going to be a whole new person. A person who does Iron Man races and doesn’t just watch Ironman movies. I am going to learn Spanish and maybe some Mandarin, and I am going to write poetry, and memorize Scripture, and cook pastries, and journal regularly (maybe even in Spanish), and avoid carbs (even after cooking said pastries), and drink gallons of water, and stay off coffee, and … well … you get the point. I have aspirations to be a much better version of myself, a version that is considerably more godly and more disciplined than my current iteration. In the meanwhile, though, I will either just pretend, or I will push into the incredible and scandalous grace that is available for a sinner like me.