I love to worship Jesus. I love to pray, and I love to read His word. He deserves our worship, because He alone is God, and He is holy and worthy of our praise. In light of this, though, have you ever sat in church and just didn’t feel like it that day? I’m not condoning this feeling, by the way, because if we lived based on our feelings and thoughts, we would be letting the enemy thrive in our lives, and we never want to do that.
Read MoreThere I sat, thousands of feet in the air with my Bible open and pen in hand. My most honest thoughts come when I am in the cabin of an airplane; forced to sit still with my phone turned off. As the sun slanted through the window, my pen hit paper and honesty poured out.
Read MoreWhat do you focus on the most in your life? What fuels you, in a positive way? What lets you down? Is it a person? Is it a tangible thing? I think that our outlook on life is an indicator of our faith.
Read MoreSomewhere in my elementary years, I delightfully encountered bossy Mrs. Armstrong and the motley Herdman gang of ”The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson. I remember feeling outraged as each unruly child bullied their way into the Christmas pageant roles - only to breathe a sigh of relief at the end as they truly portrayed their characters that first Christmas: messy and scared, but willing to give all they had. They might have been small actors in that play, but they played a big part in helping that community understand the true meaning of Christmas.
Read MoreEverything about who I am stems from what You say about me. Do I know what that is? Is who You created me to be something I have knowledge of? I don’t mean in the sense of “what is my purpose” and what it looks like in practice to fulfill Your plan, but the very essence of who I am or more importantly, whose I am.
Read MoreDid you know that as believers and followers of Jesus, we need to be careful with how we spend our time? We do. We need to be careful with what we read, what we watch, and what we listen to. A lady that I have “followed” for years through her blog posts made me aware of this fact. Before I start, though, can I just tell you how thankful I am for an online community of women who love Jesus that I have never personally laid eyes on? Social media gets such a bad rap, but when it is used for good, the enemy needs to beware!
Read MoreIs the cup half empty or half full? Personally, I remember this question mystifying me as a kid. You look at the top of the cup and there’s nothing there, so obviously it’s half empty. I’m not sure when my perspective changed, but I do remember it being a light-bulb moment, “Oh, I guess there is water in the bottom half of the cup!”
Read MoreI don’t even know where to start with this, it’s so easy to become lost in emotions. I wanted to pen this letter to women who were failed by the feminist movement. You who sit with these guarded and secret dreams that you are afraid to share. You who want to be homemakers.
Read MoreYesterday my close friend and I gathered in my living room amidst toys, empty juice boxes, and unfolded (but clean!) laundry. We buzzed with excitement despite the mess as we shared what God has been teaching us this week through Scripture, prayer, and everyday life. Hopes lifted up, tears shed, hearts humbled in prayer.
Read MoreThrough most of my teenage years and into my twenties, I spent a lot of time wanting to hear from God - I needed direction on what to major in, what job to accept, whether I should go to law school, where I should live, who (and if) I should marry. People told me to read my Bible and pray - that it’s where I could find the answers I was seeking, but for years, I couldn’t find them there either.
Read More“Break up your fallow ground” means to rend your heart, break down the barriers of your soul, and repent. I believe one of the hardest things to admit, especially for those “seasoned saints” or anyone who has walked with the Lord for any length of time, is our misunderstanding of repentance. I will admit that I once believed the word “repent” was directed only towards unbelievers or used only in the context of an altar call. Until recently, I never embraced the beauty that repentance brings to my relationship with Jesus.
Read MoreLet’s talk about Halloween - about its origins, what it is today, and what the Bible has to say about this issue.
Read MoreI used to play tennis in high school. At least three times a week, we would run drills in the afternoon. The countless hours of sprinting, swinging the racket, and hitting shots over and over again seemed mind-numbing in the moment. But by the end of my senior year, I could see how much I had improved since being a freshman. I could play tennis well because I had practiced it almost every week.
Read MoreSomewhere along the way, a belief might have become a part of our thinking: we receive love when we do something good or something worthy of praise. As a result of believing this, we end up doing things, not out of love, but with the motive to receive love. When we view our relationships with a transactional mentality, it shapes how we believe God loves us. For example, if we do something good, we get love and if we do something bad, that love is taken away. Our brains revert to this perverted version of love; that is a lie. This destroys our view of God, what He has done for us, and His grace.
Read MoreI’m in one of those seasons of life that makes me question a lot. I’m questioning my motivations and passions and work habits. The future seems like a mass of unknowns and the past seems like a patchwork of disconnected experiences. Despite being 29 years old, I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up.
Read MoreThanks to a certain Netflix show and some conversations with friends, I’ve been going through the things that I own, deciding what things to let go of and what to keep. My home editing has gone slowly because I stop to look at every single thing.
Read MoreSome of my fondest memories from my teenage years were sitting at my grandma’s table after school, having a snack, and chatting with her over a hot cup of tea. Looking back, I so cherish those days that I had with her as, sadly, she passed away not long after I finished high school. She was a woman from another generation and time. She didn’t go to work at a 9-5 job; instead, she stayed at home cooking, cleaning, and caring for her families needs. She handmade her children’s clothes and kept her garden immaculate. She was a homemaker and a dearly devoted one at that, which is something I will always admire about her. She was always my favourite!
Read MoreTo the girl whose stomach sinks when she thinks too much about life… You are seen. You are loved. You are held.
Read MoreMark is the perfect go-to gospel for men. This action-packed account of Christ’s life unfolds like a Hollywood blockbuster. One writer described this rendering as Jesus revealing Himself more by what He does than by what He says. John Mark was quick to get to the point in his factual and focused account. As a female, who happily has a higher word count per day, I prefer John’s gospel. I love its expanded discourses and intricate narrative detail. It would be fair to say it is my gospel go-to.
Read MoreIn Philippians 4, the apostle Paul gives exhortations to the church. He encourages them to stand fast and to have peace and joy in all circumstances, an exhortation that remains relevant for us as believers today. But what about when we are faced with very real and, sometimes, debilitating anxiety? How do we stand fast to God’s peace and continue to rejoice when an anxiety attack urges us to take flight? These are two questions I’ve asked myself and am still pursuing day-to-day.
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