In her timely and vastly important book, Jen Oshman walks us through five specific ideals which our culture in particular shoves at women. She peels back the layers of lies, desires, and promises with a biblical lens. Cultural Counterfeits: 5 Empty Promises Of Our Age and How We Were Made for So Much More begins with the premise of the prodigal son parable and how we are prone to follow the call of sin and the world.
Read MoreThere’s this song by Taylor Swift called “Everything Has Changed” that I have always loved. The lyrics are:
“All I know this morning when I woke
Is I know something now
Know something now I didn’t before...”
As children, we learned about the history of Thanksgiving. We made turkeys out of our painted hands and Indian and Pilgrim hats out of construction paper. We learned that Thanksgiving was a time when people from two diverse backgrounds shared a meal together. Yet, there is more to Thanksgiving than just this.
Read MoreI feel like my future was served to me on a silver platter, but I didn’t want it and sent it back to the kitchen. When we jump ahead of God’s will for our lives, we might get bruised.
As Thanksgiving approaches, it becomes a time we can reflect and thank back on the year we have lived. Maybe this has been the worst year of your life. Maybe this has been the best. Either way, reflecting back, you always, always have something to be thankful to God for.
Read MoreAs a mother, have you wondered about how to train your child? Or maybe you feel your own parents have not trained you well? Recently a young mother asked me, “Aunty, where do I start? Is there a list somewhere?” So this article is for Neha and others like her.
Read MoreWe received an interesting offer from our blogger network to promote a Christian banking company called adelfi. At first I, Alycia, was unsure of whether or not this fit into our values here at Tirzah. However, I considered how I choose to do my own life. I personally believe in doing all I can to support the household of God (Gal. 6:10). Personally, I have been on a journey to learn about things like Christian health sharing programs, businesses, and more
Read MoreThis first verse of a lyric I recently wrote represents for me the reality that God is transcendent - completely different from us, being infinite, holy, and perfect - but also immanent - close to us. This is something I don't think I'll ever fully understand this side of heaven, but it is wonderfully, amazingly true.
Read MoreJesus at my house!? Have you wondered what it would be like if Jesus walked into your house/ apartment or room? As I pondered that, I wrote this poem. You may want to read it and reflect on the verses given.
I love a good adventure… hitting the open road… taking to the skies… Meeting new people, tasting delicacies I’ve never heard of before, breathing in the beauty of the architecture and natural wonders of the world, and trying new things which push me outside my comfort zone (Helmet diving, anyone? I highly recommend it!). I feel like I could travel forever and never get bored of it. There’s always more to discover.
Read MoreI am so excited about what we are doing today. We are going to be drawing out verses that will help us learn them. In 2020 when COVID hit us and we were all stuck in our homes, my friends and I met on Zoom to draw verses. It started when my friends Winnie and Sheila said they just could not draw. I wanted to rid them of that fear to draw so encouraged them saying we could do a session on drawing verses together. We had fun!
Read MoreOn our trip out west, we visited some of the national parks in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. As we were able to stand in awe of the magnificent creations, the above song always came to my mind. While I looked out at the views, I would find God there. As we watched the sun dip below the Grand Canyon, I could hear the many languages around me, and thought how cool it was that people of different nations and cultures all came together to witness God’s majesty together. When we would drive to our next destination of our trip, we would play worship music and enjoy the scenery, and I found God there, too.
Read MoreIn the early stages of dating there is a phase that we all probably walk through. This phase is called Rose-Colored glasses. It is when you are so caught up in infatuation and having a man pay attention to you that all reasoning and clear thinking goes out the window. We let things slide that are our core values.
Read MoreThe Lord promises to be with us always. Wherever you are now, in the car waiting for your child to finish his soccer game, outside the school on a wet evening- he is with you. As you fold laundry and wash and put away dishes, he is with you.
Read MoreFor those who don’t know, Reformation Day is the day that Martin Luther nailed the “95 Theses” to a Catholic Church door. During this time, much of the church was following Catholicism and practices that said you could earn forgiveness and salvation. Martin Luther’s theses explained that the Bible was the ultimate authority and only Jesus could forgive sins. This started the Protestant Reformation and helped spark a new day for the church in history.
Read MoreNow, we all know or have heard about Ruth’s past – was married into a household that worshiped God, lost her husband and father-in-law, and had the option to go back to her family but instead she decided to remain loyal to her mother-in-law, Naomi. We also know what happens afterwards – Naomi’s family member, Boaz, marries Ruth and they live happily ever after. This is a love story far better than any made-up Disney romance.
Read MoreYou may be hearing a lot more about banned books, particularly last month during Banned Book Week. Bookstores and libraries featured displays of books that have been banned throughout the years, and publishing companies, authors, and social media book influencers spread anti-censorship messages on their feeds.
Read MoreJesus came so our life could be abundant, full, and overflowing. He came so we would be free to live and free to love. When our life is not looking like this, we know it is the work of Satan. He loves it when we cower in fear and when we feel condemned, broken, and useless. And for this he sometimes uses people around us, situations and circumstances, social media and even our own minds.
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.
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