I spend a fair amount of time in airports and on airplanes. On almost every trip, someone inevitably asks me what I do for a living. I generally want to answer, “It’s complicated.” There should be a special club for those of us in indescribable vocations. In the last year I have settled on, “I’m a trauma therapist. I specialize in the intersection of faith and mental health.”

My grandmother (who we lovingly called Mema) used to say, “There is a time for everything—a season for every stage—an ending for every beginning.” It reminds me of these words from Ecclesiastes 3:

Growing up, I thought I was pretty much the perfect kid. Even in high school, I was always the good kid—I even got voted “Parent’s Dream Child” my senior year of high school. (Yes, I know that’s not a “Most Likely To” award, but hey, it’s a small town and you gotta take what you can get.)

Today we focus on the Epistle, Philippians 3:4b–14, with a devotion from A Year in the Word.

Imagine you’re sitting next to a friend at an incredibly loud sporting event. As everyone is cheering on their team, you’re trying to tell your friend that you’re going to get some more popcorn. Maybe you try to yell, but they still don’t hear you. So you lean in close, tell them where you’re going, and stand up to get some snacks.

On Ash Wednesday, we recognize that the consequence of our sin is death, and it is only through our Lord Jesus that we can gain eternal life.

We focus on the Epistle today with an excerpt from Reading Romans with Luther.

Our devotional reading for the Fourth Sunday in Lent comes from a sermon in Concordia Pulpit Resources.

Today’s devotional reading focuses on the Epistle and comes from Saved by Grace: A Study of Christian Doctrine—Student Book.

Our devotional reading this Sunday focuses on the Gospel text and comes from Concordia Commentary: John 1:1–7:1.