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Seven Secrets for Deeper Joy in Life
It’s an unseasonably warm Thursday afternoon, aspen leaves covering the ground with a golden blanket—kind of like they’ve absorbed every ounce of joy in life and put it on display for the world to see. I rush through the aisles of the discount grocery store, filling my cart to the brim as other shoppers scurry to get in front of me. I’ve forgotten all about slowing to live the kind of life that breathes, laughs, and loves. When the last loaf of bread is scanned and placed gently on top of my pile, I push the cart to the counter where toddlers sit and elderly ladies pause to pack their…
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To the Woman Who Is Ready for a Break From Life
The evening sky is graying with dusk, and your feet are weary from a full day of living in the thick of your calling. You’re ready for the needy people to head home so you can do the same—so you can take a long break from life and this world with its incessant demands. Most of us have been here. It might be the classroom where you invest your time in the education of young lives. Maybe it’s the house where the children rule the schedule and the walls close in at approximately 4:43 every afternoon. Perhaps it’s the quiet cubicle where you spend the day answering phone calls from…
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8 Reassuring Bible Verses About Patience
Most of us are waiting for something. We’re waiting for dreams to come to life, prodigals to return home, and babies to sleep through the night. Some of us are waiting for God to heal our bodies or the bodies of our loved ones. Waiting on God is never easy. Let’s dig into some reassuring Bible verses about patience together today. Bible Verses About Patience The Bible has a lot to say about waiting on God and being patient. 1. Romans 12:12, ESV Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. We all face troubled times in life. Meanwhile, God calls us to press through these times…
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How to Stop Being Miserable: 7 Negative Mindsets That Might Be Stealing Your Joy
I awaken to a twisted knot of sheets, and it’s clear I’ve been wrestling all night long. No part of me wants to get out of this bed and step into my life today. I want to stop being miserable in this season, but I have no worldly clue of what to do about it. Most of us have been here. You wake up to the buzzing alarm, and you have absolutely no desire to return to the same old job in the same tiny cubicle to perform the same fifty tasks in an endless cycle. Or maybe the baby cries two hours before daybreak. You just can’t see starting…
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Why It’s Okay to Lack Satisfaction in Life
It’s a spring-like winter day, and I offer the kids a trip to visit the calves at the neighboring farm. I’m not really thinking about satisfaction in life, but our time under open skies is about to reframe my perspective on winter and on life in general. This time of year, the once-lush fields are dingy with winter. Corn stubble blankets hazel earth, and the verdant clover is drab and beige. We walk beneath grey skies, and from some precisely placed break in the clouds, a fiery sun blazes coral as it slips toward the horizon. We’re walking westward, and it seems we’re chasing down the light. “The sun sure…
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3 Action Steps for a More Meaningful Life
White light breaks through smoky billows of fog, and I wake up thinking about how to live a more meaningful life. I’m tired of rushing through my moments, wishing away long days, and living in survival mode. The little ones open the first windows on their colorful Advent calendars and scarf down thin squares of chocolate to mark this first day of waiting. We’re waiting for the coming King. Waiting for the day that marks Immanuel’s entry into the world. Waiting for God with us. A hunter climbs a tree on the northwestern skyline, and he’s waiting, too. All this waiting draws my mind to a question little Bekah’s been…
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How to be Happy with What We Have
Today I’m welcoming a writing friend as a guest blogger. While welcoming guest bloggers to my site isn’t something I’m regularly pursuing, Daisy and I met long before I ever imagined I’d have a blog, and her words have been an encouragement to me. We met through Grove City Alliance Church, and Daisy passed her role as the Prayer Shield Coordinator onto me a few years ago. We reconnected this spring, and it’s an honor to share her words with you today. Daisy is the published author of Homespun Faith, a compilation of devotionals. She writes on her own blog at homespunfaith.com. How to be Happy with What We Have…
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How to Live for God and Find Deeper Joy in Life
The rhythm of the elliptical is like a cadence keeping time with my prayers. I pray while I exercise. Today I’m praying for single-minded focus to help me live for God in a world so full of distractions. I stare at a beautiful landscape background on my computer while a worship mix stirs my soul. I’m listening to Israel Houghton’s moving rendition of “To Worship You I Live” when a question startles me from my daze. How to Live for God I think of Paul’s words: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 NIV). The song prompts me to consider what I live…
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Refresh Your Soul: 15 Creative Ways
I take Sweet Bekah to the woods for our first overnight backing trip and try to ignore anxious thoughts about leaving the boys at home and what we’ll do if I forget something important. As I stuff everything we’ll need for the night into our backpacks, I whisper, “Enjoy this, Stacey. Let this time in the woods refresh your soul.” Sweet Bekah is five, and she’s begged me to take her backpacking for months. I finally concede, and we go to the river on a sunny afternoon. I strap fifty pounds to my back and push the rest of our gear ahead of me in a double stroller. We have…
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The Secret Path to Find Fulfillment in Life
My hands clenched the rough granite with the ferocity of a woman who knows one wrong move will result in one of two things: death or serious injury. I was nearing the summit of a 12,000-foot peak in Wyoming’s Wind River Range—at least ten miles from the nearest sign of human civilization. The shift of my left foot sent a cascade of debris tumbling down the mountain. “I shouldn’t have come here alone,” I whispered. The situation was precarious. I needed to scale a ten-foot long, six-inch wide ledge to get to the next “safe” spot of the climb. . . .To keep reading, join me at Christian Devotions Ministries.