I tossed aside another wedding invitation, got another text message about my friend’s graduate school acceptance, saw yet another pregnancy announcement, and agonized over another Facebook “in a relationship” status change that overwhelmed my news feed. I said farewell to a close friend as he got to travel cross-country.
Read MoreAs humans, we try to avoid pain. We do everything we can to fill our soul’s aches and needs by self-medicating. Some turn to drugs and alcohol to cope; others fill our schedules with work 20 hours a day until we drop into bed exhausted; and yet others fill their minds with social media, television, friends, parties, travel, and any kind of noise or distraction just so we wouldn’t have to feel the depth of our pain and need. Because hurting sucks. Having a need only God can - but won’t - fill is really hard. It is the deep, personal, felt needs that maybe no one even knows about but we carry with us every day, year after year.
Read MoreCONGRATULATIONS! You just landed your dream job. You’re going to dive in and start changing the world one [insert your primary task] at a time. There’s a post on your Instagram and Facebook. All of your friends know. Maybe you go out to celebrate with your family - sushi, anyone?
Read MoreYou’ve heard the genesis of the home for teen moms and the story of my mother. However, there’s a whole other chapter to this story. She was born in the Appalachian mountains. Born and raised. Pretty much my favorite person on the planet. Full of southern sass and the kindest heart you’ll ever meet.
Read MoreWhen I was in 10th grade God placed a dream in my heart to start a modest clothing store. Severn years later God brought that dream to life. On June 9, 2014 we launched Marqué Modest Apparel. My hope then was to encourage women in their identity in Christ and to rebrand modesty. Yet something in my heart even then told me that there was so much more to come, God just hadn't revealed that to me yet.
Read MoreThis wasn’t the life I had planned. It wasn’t part of the carefully filled out “five-year” plan I completed in senior English. This wasn’t what I had strived for, what I imagined, what I dreamt of. It was nothing I would have wanted for myself. By now, I should be putting a down payment on a house. I should have my New York Times bestseller published.
Read MorePersistent prayer doesn't change God. It changes us. Because it takes everything to keep showing up at His throne with the same request day after day, and more faith than you think you have to keep believing He will answer in His time.
Read MoreYou finished school, drudged through the application processes, nailed interviews, and have now landed the job! Congratulations! But you may be asking, “Now what?”
Read MoreRecently my son’s health began to decline, whilst trying to navigate this I was preparing to teach on Sunday. I kept on moving forward, childhood illnesses come and go, and I imagined this too would pass. My assigned passage was James 1.
Read MoreFor two days in a row now, I have had such excellent time with the Lord each morning. I always do this, but some days are better than others...you know what I mean. I've been trying not to rush on these days when I don't have to rush off somewhere, and in that time, I've really been praying some specific things regarding those I know and love.~
Read MoreI once believed the only stories worth reading boasted of intriguing romantic plot lines. Over the past few years, though, the Lord has shown me what love truly is – and what it is not.
Read MoreWait - is anyone here religious? It’s the follow-up to a slightly off-colored joke. But everyone is talking and the conversation has moved on. I shrug. I’m what most people would consider religious, but I’m not easily offended. It had become normal to “shrug off” my religion. I had left the comfort of the Bible belt and was making my own way in the world.
Read MoreAs a Christian I want to stand apart from the rest, both at home and when I step into the office on Monday morning. The average American worker sent and received an average of 126 emails per day in 2019. No matter what line of work you are in, you will probably find yourself needing to email someone in the course of your workday.
Read MorePractically, how do we go about living with God? Especially, if we are in seasons where it is easier to accept He’s not actually around. How do we live with a living God, when we still aren’t convinced He is living?
Read MoreEvery year I pick a word to focus on - something that sums up my goals for the coming months, while also being more flexible than a new year’s resolution. For 2020, I’ve chosen the word invest.
Read MoreThis year, I am reading through the Bible chronologically again, along with a lot of the women in my church. I am an avid reader, and I think the chronological order makes more sense, at least to me. You can purchase a Bible that is already divided up for such reading, or you can read along on an app. Whichever way you read is fine; the main thing is that we all need to be reading the word of God on a daily basis. One day last week I came across the story of Sarai and Hagar, in Genesis 15-16.
Read MoreDo you ever find yourself asking God what He wants you to go, and feel like you are not receiving a response? Do you ever pray through a monologue with all your requests to God, but never stop to listen to what He may need to say? Just me?
Read MoreLast week, we talked about what it means that women were created to be helpers. There are two opposite ways women react to this statement: (1) push back that this is an unfair stereotype that pigeonholes women at home doing domestic chores or (2) embrace it as support for why women shouldn’t be in the workforce and/or moving up the corporate ladder into leadership. Both points have merit, so let’s discuss the intersection of women working and being helpers.
Read MoreHave you ever looked up the word hospitality to see what it means? Dictionary.com defines this word as “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.”
Read More“You can’t just decide you want to do something and do it.” The statement by my pastor really jolted me in my seat. My immediate reaction was disgust. As a typical human, if someone says “you can’t” to me, it immediately becomes my life goal to be able to come back and say “I can . . . and I DID.”
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