One of Job’s major complaints against God was that evil people and their deeds seemed to thrive, not be punished as we would expect. It seemed like God allowed it all to happen without any recompense. At the same time, Job also acknowledged God’s certain judgment on the wicked. Note, this question was not coming from a place of unbelief or sin on Job’s part.
Read MoreA few years ago, I never would have imagined that more than 4 years after college I would be back in the same house I grew up in. This little dingy house sits on the wrong side of town, yet holds 27 years of both good and bad memories. I also didn’t imagine getting married to a military man stationed overseas and not living together.
Read MoreDo you ever feel like you’re not good enough? Do you find yourself constantly worried that you don’t deserve the life you have and someone is going to call you out on it? I’ll be the first to tell you that I often question my self-worth and God’s ability to use me. I’m currently knee-deep in the job-hunting trenches, and while I know that I am qualified for the positions I’m applying for, I still find myself doubting my abilities and feeling like a fake.
Read MoreMy relationship with God has been rather steady since accepting Him into my life in 2015. But lately that steady relationship has been rocky or almost nearly non-existent. I don’t know exactly when it started to dissolve, but it did. Maybe it was when I took off my cross ring, maybe it was during my time of stress where I attempted to solve my own problems versus leaning on Him.
Read MoreHappy Monday, friends! I have a mini quiz for you to start off your week: Does the idea of sharing your faith make you uncomfortable and anxious? Do you feel inadequate to share your faith because you don’t have the right education or an actual Bible degree? Have you ever felt the whisper of the Holy Spirit to speak up in conversation, but chickened out due to fear of judgment?
Read MoreGone. Eighteen years of work gone. In fact, you can multiply that by four. Seventy-two years of work gone. Eighteen years per child. Sixteen years of high school homeschool documentation totaling more than at least ninety-six separate documents.
Read MoreDo you know what day of the week is my favorite? Sunday. Sunday just seems to be a slower, more peaceful day - a day of restoration. I often try to do “gospel yoga” on the Peloton app prior to church. After church, we normally have lunch with our family and then have a “lazy” day. We hike, take a nap, catch up on a hobby, or read. Sundays are a day to regain focus; to rest and reflect on what is important in our lives.
More Than Your Number is “A Christ - Centered Enneagram approach to becoming A.W.A.R.E of your internal world. Maybe you have heard of the enneagram? Maybe you are one of those people who has done every single personality test on the planet. Beth & Jeff McCord want to help people understand the enneagram from a Christ-centered approach.
Read MoreAs an architect, I loved this one-on-one chat with my clients, especially the lady of the house. But where the house was built and how strong it was to weather the storms were important. Ranjit who designs structures to weather earthquakes tells me that a house built on the rock would even withstand earthquakes as it could the storms!
Read MoreI’ve recently celebrated my 40th birthday with an international travel-themed party. In decorating the cake, a friend and I created icing cut-outs of famous landmarks, using embossed cookie cutters. We didn’t want family and friends to look at the cake, and ponder, ‘What have they done here?’, but rather to readily identify the icons we’d represented.
Read MoreThis woman of the Lithuanian folk song helped me. I am twenty years past the birth of my fourth and last child. My children are all taller than me, growing strong and brave and beautiful. I planted the flower of my youth in this little house. I spent my youth on four precious souls and on loving a husband. With the Lord's help, I've disciplined, encouraged, confronted, planted, painted, procured, thrown away, and prayed. And now we are twenty years on.
Read MoreDo you trust God? He is the ultimate definition of trust. We can count on Him, even when we cannot rely on others. But like anything else, even trusting in God in certain situations is much easier said than done.
Read MoreAs we pray, God will meet us where we are at and show us His grace and goodness. He will give us a heart for others, show us His heart for us, and heal us of the emotional consequences of doubting his goodness.
Read MoreI attend Malone University, a private Christian school in Canton, OH. The community comprises of students and faculty of various backgrounds. I’ve met students from different religious backgrounds and some who are non-religious, of different ethnic backgrounds, and so on. As a Christian school, Malone is affiliated with Evangelical Friends Church. Their community guidelines adhere to the church’s guidelines. Faculty members are expected to follow the guidelines more than students. One of the guidelines is that sex must be intimate between a man and a woman– same-sex relationships aren’t allowed. As you can imagine many people would be irked by this, and this is exactly what happened six months ago on October 11th. Malone’s president announced in an email that one of the female science professors is having a relationship with another woman and intends to get married this summer. When she approached the leadership she hoped for a compromise. Instead, she was asked to resign. Many students and alumni shared their grievances on Facebook and Instagram showing their support for the professor; most of whom were members of the LBGTQ+ community and supporters.
Read MoreWhat blessing have you been asking God for lately? Do you feel like your prayers are going unheard and unanswered? This is a reminder that there will be times when God prolongs a blessing after a season of waiting and painful wrestling with Him.
Read MoreWe all have our favorite clothes, right? The ones we can’t live without. Over the years my wardrobe has taken on a very new look. For the 56-year-old Grandma in me, I like the clothes I have now. Muted shades, mostly ¾ sleeves and easy to maintain.
Read MoreAs I started my car after work, I noticed the light on my fuel tank flashing. I was nearly hitting the empty mark. I stopped at the gas station on my way back and quickly filled up.
Read MoreAs a child I read vigorously and hopefully. The library was my second home, and I looked forward to reading the endless shelves of books beyond the children’s section. But when I moved into the Young Adult area, many of the first few pages of each book were filled with silliness or extreme violence or raunchy content. I was horrified and my innocent dreams of reading every book in the library were crushed.
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