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Don’t Stop Believing
What do we do when we see that we haven't met our goals? How do we deal with pain and disappointment in our past. How can I have hope in the future?
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Weddings to Avoid
This is a small peek into the book I have been working on. It's about Brett's and my marriage and God's ability to heal even the worst situation.
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Scary Prayers – Part 2
In part 1 of Scary Prayers I shared what Jesus taught His disciples about how to pray and why that is hard. There is one other prayer that Jesus shares with us that I think qualifies as a scary prayer. This one in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matt 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46) Jesus often used the name Abba (father in Aramaic) when He spoke to God. I love that He modeled an intimate close relationship with God as a fatherly one. One that shows God desires to be near. Here we see Jesus in the garden. Now just hours before His crucifixion. Jesus knows the time has come…
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Scary Prayers – Part 1
“Praying with the intent to obey, regardless of the answer given, is the most difficult of prayers.” I’ve been thinking a lot about my prayer life lately. I’ve been challenged to look hard at how I pray to see if it lines up with scripture. I wonder if I am “doing it right” or if my prayers are effective. I want to be casual when I pray. I want to take my laundry list of needs to God and tell Him how to fix them for me. I really want Him to do it quickly because I took the time to tell Him. But what I want more than all…
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Why does waiting have to be so hard?
Do you ever read a story in the Bible a hundred times and then all at once you read it again and – BAM – it comes alive in a new way that totally fits where you’re at? That’s me. Honestly, I identify with the Israelites in the desert so often but in this season of my life, it’s more so. Usually, the part I see myself with the Israelites in the desert is how many times they got it wrong. Slow learners unite! But right now, the time I relate to on the wilderness journey is the waiting. Oh, the waiting. I need to pause and breathe thinking of…
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My Ebenezer – “He has helped us thus far”
When you walk in my front door one of the first things you will see is this wall hanging. It signifies so many things. This has become, for me, my Ebenezer. You may not remember that word in the Bible and all you can picture is a grumpy old man from A Christmas Carol but it is in fact a biblical word. 1 Samuel begins before the people of Israel had asked God for a king. They were lead by the prophet Samuel. This was before the mighty King David or even King Saul. If you remember anything in the early Old Testament it’s the people of Israel were slow…
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Too easily offended
Does anyone else feel like everyone is offended these days? Holy smokes, ya’ll! It’s exhausting tiptoeing around everyone and over thinking everything – wondering if you have all ready blown it by just breathing. I want to get away to some Utopian place where everyone gets along. (I’ll google it and keep you posted.) The thing about Utopian living is, no time in history has that ever happened. People come together with different ideals, morals, thoughts, feelings, passions, backgrounds and a host of other things that create a person. How do you blend all that peacefully? While I don’t believe we will have that kind of Utopian peaceful existence until…
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What does a relationship with God look like?
That comment struck a chord with me. Not because it spurred me on to work out harder but it was a good question to ask in many areas of my life. Am I willing to purse writing or healthy relationships or my health journey or my relationship with God, for as long as it takes to see the change? It’s a tough question to answer. My first response is, “Well, what will I have to do to see change?”. Is that your question too? When we talk about relationships we may not ask that question (because we would appear rude) but maybe we wonder what more needs to be done…
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Forgiveness -A how to, from someone who is working on it.
First, let me start by saying I am not the expert on this subject. I am merely a student of the Word. I have walked through hurt and created hurt for others which I have needed to ask forgiveness. This is what I have adapted in my life and marriage. And what I pray continues to grow in me. Forgiveness is a tough one. It’s not something that we can address once and wrap it up in a nice, neat bow never to worry about it again. I believe that is why Jesus said to forgive 77 times. Matthew 18:21-22 NIV 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how…
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Knowing God – It’s Kinda Like The Ocean
Have you ever been to the ocean? Amazingly beautiful. Such power. Such force that continues to drive the waves onto the shore. Day in and day out the water moves just as it was directed to from the first day God spoke it into motion. The first time I saw the ocean, I was humbled by it’s greatness. It’s grandness. It’s methodical turbulence. Over and over, never growing tired of moving over the shore. I realized very quickly that I would never fully know the depths of the ocean because of it’s size but also it’s depth. I would not know the ocean really by standing on the shore in…
