It is currently winter here. The mornings are frosty and cold. The nights are icy and dark. The trees that once held bright colored leaves in colors of yellow, orange, and red now stand empty and bare. It can be a sad sight to behold. Just recently while driving to a friend’s house to…
Some of life’s greatest lessons are not learned in a classroom but in the crevice of a dark valley. Sometimes you grow closest to Christ not in the seasons of prosperity, laughter, and joy, but in seasons of loss, trials, and tears. Because it takes going through hardships that test your faith to believe God…
I have a problem. One I have been aware of for a long time. It’s an issue I have battled with my whole life and quite honestly, I don’t know if it’s one I will ever overcome. Here it is: I like to know how everything ends. Stories. Movies. Books. If I have the option…
Sarah’s story began with excitement, adventure, and an incredible promise from God Himself. One day she would bear a child (Genesis 15:4-5) A child that would bring joy to her and her husband and be the first of the many descendants to come. Her future was full of so much hope. She married Abraham, a…
A few weeks ago my boss sat me down and decided to give me an early Christmas gift. He told me I had to start looking for a new job. It was totally unexpected and out of the blue. Just like that I found myself standing with a closed door in front of me and…
It’s that time of year when everyone is merry. But all you feel is darkness inside. Everyone is out and about enjoying festivities. And all you want to do is sit at home and hide. Everyone is talking about plans for the new years and how bright the future looks. And all you can worry…
By now I should be…raising three children in my own house with my husband next to me. By now I should be… traveling the world and fulfilling my high school dreams. By now I should be… higher up in the chain in the world of business and using that fancy degree. By now I should…
There’s something that has been nagging on my heart all week. Something that I don’t want to admit. Not to myself, and certainly not to others. It’s paradoxical and quite simple. I’m Christian and I’m not a believer. Those two things don’t belong in the same sentence together. But even though I wish I could…
Comparing is a pretty negative word in Christian circles. And for good reason. It usually leads us to bitterness when we see someone out there who seems to have more going for them than we do or it leads to pride when we see that we are better off than someone else. Neither is good.…
Can I be honest about something today? Sometimes I just don’t get God. I don’t get Him because He is Almighty and Sovereign. He has the power to do absolutely anything in the world. He can answer the prayer you have been praying for years in a millisecond and yet He doesn’t. He deliberately chooses…
Here are the benefits of worrying: 1. ____________________________________________ 2.____________________________________________ 3.____________________________________________ Yep, there are none. And yet how often do we toss and turn all night because of worry? How often do we create the worst of scenarios in our heads of what tomorrow might bring only to realize that it’s unlikely it will really come…
We have all been a victim of something in our lives. A victim of hateful words. A victim of painful circumstances. A victim of physical, mental, or emotional abuse. That abuse may have happened one time and once it happened everything in your world changed. Sometimes that abuse happens for weeks, for months, and for…
I used to admire people who always appeared strong. People who always seemed to have their life figured out. People who never had a bad day or something that didn’t go their way. These people had no imperfections and no mistakes. Even their clothes and hair was never out of place. I would place them…
She knew that he never chose to be with her and yet every morning she woke up dreaming and praying that maybe he would love her the way that she loved him. She longed for him to look her deep in the eyes and call her beautiful. She wished late at night he would choose…
“You have cancer.” “You are going to lose the house.” “Today is your last day at the job, we are letting you go.” “I don’t love you anymore.” And just like that you go from being healthy to lying on a hospital bed. To looking for a place for your family to sleep at night.…
Growing up I used to think that being blessed by God meant that life would always be good, that my prayers would always get answered just the way I wanted them to, and that I wouldn’t have a care in the world. Boy was I wrong. Because sometimes the greatest blessings in our lives don’t…
Fear. It’s what kept the Israelites walking around in circles when they were destined for the Promised Land. It’s what made Peter start drowning when he should have kept on walking on water. It’s what causes dreams to be left unfulfilled and buried with talented, gifted, and skilled women and men all around the world.…
When I thought about taking a month off to escape the busyness of the world and seek Christ more I envisioned myself having sweet times of fellowship with Jesus one-on-one with no distractions. I thought I would dig deep into His Word to draw nearer to Him and get more insight, more direction, and more…
She had a purpose and she had a destiny. To start over fresh with her family in a new land with God. To be a mother and a wife. But she threw it all away with one single glance. One glance behind her into the past. And because of that one glance her plans were…
Sometimes life is like the weather: unpredictable. You wake up expecting sunshine but what you get is rain. You expect the healing to come… but the illness rages on. You expect the job offer… and instead get the rejection call. You expect the relationship to work out… but instead you get a good-bye You expect…
You like to remind me of my failures and my shortcomings. You like to bring back memories of pain long buried away. You like to predict my future and tell me I don’t have anything to look forward to and that nothing will ever change. You like to interrupt my day and stop me dead…
Sometimes I wonder… What would have happened if Mother Theresa gave up helping abandoned little children because she felt powerless to help all the orphans in the world? What would have happened if Paul gave up preaching because he was thrown into prison, beaten, and spoken against more times than he could count? What would…
