Jim Graff

Our grandkids visited us this summer and brought a game called Beanboozled. I’d never played it before; if I had, I probably would have politely declined! Here’s how it goes: you spin a spinner that lands on a picture of a jelly bean you have to eat. The problem is—each color jelly bean has two […]

I’ll never forget asking Tamara to marry me—the nerves before I popped the question, and how my heart leaped when she said yes. I was overjoyed! We can all think of moments when joy filled our hearts to overflowing—but they’re just that: moments. For some of us, they’re few and far between. That causes me […]

Growing up, I was the youngest of five siblings—three boys, two girls. My brother Kenny, five years my senior, was an exceptional athlete. I loved him picking me up to play on his team for Wiffle ball, basketball, or football games. We typically won, and I was very aware it wasn’t because of my abilities—it […]

In our church, we often remind people that our community is imperfect because it’s full of imperfect people seeking to learn more about a perfect God. And if someone thinks it’s perfect, the minute they join, they’ll make it imperfect too! The key to experiencing an incredible life full of meaningful relationships isn’t dependent upon […]

When our daughter was planning her wedding, Tamara and I enrolled in ballroom dancing lessons. We assumed we’d be naturals! After all, Tamara was a cheer captain of a 5A school, and I was a college athlete. But we soon realized our success in ballroom dancing didn’t so much depend on our individual strengths but […]

In ancient Rome, crowds filled coliseums to watch gladiators fight brutal battles—many to their death. As these warriors prepared to enter the arena, their loved ones would shout one desperate word: spoudazo—“Give it all you’ve got. Fight to the finish.” These weren’t casual cheers from the sidelines; they were gut-wrenching pleas for survival. Gladiators, on […]

I read a medical term the other day that sobered me: philophobia—the fear of being loved. This broke my heart because when someone fears being loved, it robs them of the life God intended. It allows the enemy to steal their significance and, in turn, their successes. Thankfully, in Romans 8:37, God promises He can […]

It’s often said: “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.” And sometimes, that’s true. But in most cases, what we don’t know is hurting us more than we realize. A report from the American Enterprise Institute points to a lack of education as a major cause of poor health and financial stress, proving that ignorance […]

When I was 25 years old, both of my parents left earth for heaven. I handled their passing as well as I could, thinking I had worked through the grieving process. But in my thirties, a fresh wave of grief hit. I realized how much I missed their direction and affirmation. I was making big […]

Our society has become increasingly pragmatic. If something looks good to us, we’ll generally do it — especially if we think it won’t hurt anyone else. In this culture, it’s important to remember it’s not just what we do that matters; Why we do it is important, too. Motives matter. Proverbs 16:2 confirms this when […]