You’re Enough as You Are

by Holley Gerth | | 6 comments

Friend to Friend

“I am enough because of God.” -Eve, before the fall

“I am not enough.” -Eve, when the serpent tempted her (read Genesis 3)

A cool breeze brushes Eve’s cheek as she walks through the Garden of Eden with her husband and her God. All around her, trees and flowers bloom in brilliant colors. Animals peacefully rest in the shade. She breathes in a deep sigh of contentment. Life is good. She feels no self-consciousness, worry, or fear. Everything is as it should be. She is loved. She is content. She is safe.

The next day she hears an unfamiliar voice as she picks fruit from a group of trees. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in

The Only Way to Get Rid of Darkness Is to Add More Light

by Holley Gerth | | 8 comments

Friend to Friend

The news drifts in from the other room as I sit at my desk and try to write. Heartbreaking headlines. Scary statistics. Pessimistic predictions. It seems peace is nowhere to be found on this planet and the night is anything but silent. Feeling overwhelmed and helpless I silently ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do about all of this?” And it seems I hear a quiet whisper within my heart: “The only way to get rid of darkness is to add more light.”

As much as we’d like to, we can’t go after darkness directly. We can only crowd it out with something better and brighter. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew

Why You Don’t Have to Get Everything Right

by Holley Gerth | | 6 comments

Friend to Friend

The air smells like sugar and cinnamon as I walk into my favorite bakery for a pie-making class. I am nervous about this new undertaking. (I once made ciabatta bread that turned out so badly that my dog, who gleefully eats unspeakable things in the backyard, spit it out on the kitchen floor.)

But my friend Melissa is the head baker here and she has promised to walk me through the process. So I stand with my classmates around a long wooden table. We’re each given a large silver bowl for mixing our ingredients. I add butter, shortening (the combination of both is the secret, Melissa says), salt, flour, and water a little bit at a time. I work

It’s Okay to Rest. You Have Nothing to Prove

by Holley Gerth | | 5 comments

Friend to Friend

I open my eyes to a new day and it’s hard to resist rushing into it. I’m learning the power of pausing, inspired by the invitation found in Psalm 4:4. “Reflect in your heart while on your bed and be silent. Selah” The word “Selah” appears over seventy times in the book of Psalms, yet in many ways it remains a mystery because there is no English equivalent.

Author and worship pastor Jason Soroski says, “Many commentators think that Selah meant ‘to pause’ or ‘to reflect’. This could have been a request for the reader or listener to pause and think about what has just been said, or it could have been a space for voices to pause and for