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How God Uses Brokenness in Your Life to Touch Others
The sun rises salmon over a row of spindly pines, and I stare out the window with an ache in my abdomen. We’ve walked through our fair share of challenges throughout the past months, and I feel a little too weak – a little too broken – to do anything other than sit in this silence and ponder it all. I’m thinking about how God uses brokenness to shape us to the image of Christ when a message appears on my phone. A new friend who lives on the other side of town wants to get together for coffee. She tells me she doesn’t know much about God and that…
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The Secret to Having Peace in Life When Your Plate is Full
Autumn tends to be a full season for our family. Every year, this season nudges me to seek a deeper level of peace in life when the demands of my days feel overwhelming. This year, I’ve been shuttling the oldest to cross-country practice, storing vegetables from the garden, writing words, holding things down on the homefront, and fulfilling all the normal requirements that fill our days. Slipping away to the woods, it feels good to pause in the middle of it all. The Secret for Deeper Peace in Life As I quiet my racing mind, I think of a recent study on the book of Exodus. Moses is leading God’s…
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Finding God in Suffering: 5 Affirmations to Carry You
Some conversations remain imprinted on our minds in the precise location where they took place. Hard conversations with friends. Phone calls that change everything in the blink of an eye. Faith-filled conversations that shift paradigms in our minds and call us to learn how to be brave in new ways. Today, we’ll talk about finding God in suffering. I’ll share five affirmations that have carried me through the darkest days. Finding God in Suffering As last summer drew to a humid close, I remember precisely where we were walking when a close friend asked how I felt about an impending season of immense difficulty. Our family was on the brink of…
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Scripture for Renewal: How to Overcome Spiritual Slumps
I want my heart and my flesh to yearn for God, but there are plenty of mornings when I open my Bible with waning enthusiasm. These are the days when I need to soak in Scripture for renewal, letting God’s Word revive me. Today, we’ll explore 15 Bible verses for renewal and replenishment. I’ll also share several ways to overcome a spiritual slump. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook for spiritual replenishment. Scripture for Renewal Let’s begin by turning to God’s Word. Scripture for Renewal: 15 Verses 1. Proverbs 11:25 ESV A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be…
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I Am Tired, God: Encouragement for Exhausting Seasons
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. “I am tired, God,” you whisper. “Please carry me.” Most of us have been here. It might be the classroom where you invest your time teaching young people. Maybe it’s the house where the children rule the schedule, including when you will eat, sleep, and even shower. Perhaps it’s the quiet cubicle where you spend the…
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9 Bible Verses to Calm Fear and Anxiety
I stare out the window in the early morning hours and pray for my unraveling thoughts to settle. I’ve been fighting fear lately, and I’m losing the battle. This morning, my memorized list of Bible verses to calm fear is far from my mind. I am alone in the darkness. Perhaps you can relate. You want to overcome fear and anxiety with God’s help, but when the darkness creeps in, you often feel alone and forsaken. We face fears about everything from what will happen if the job falls through to what we’ll do if the scan reports a tumor. How do you overcome your fear when the circumstance you…
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10 Bible Verses About Passion and Purpose in Life
I sit along the trickling creek as ribbons of fading daylight twirl through a canopy of maples. I’m here to talk to God about my life, and I’ve brought my Bible in search of Bible verses about passion and purpose in my life. Life has been full and blessed lately. The house is filled with the noise of children. Our days are spent splashing in this creek and riding bikes along the winding path. We are surrounded by blessings. These days with the kids also offer very little downtime. If I’m not preparing a meal for someone, I’m cleaning up or scooping food into a little mouth. If I’m not…
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3 Ways to Let Go of Regret and Overcome Guilt
Thelma and I became friends when she was 94. I showed up at the nursing home one December evening with framed photos of angels and gave them to the elderly residents for Christmas. It was a quiet act of kindness, and I had no way of knowing that it would lead me to one day learn how to let go of regret in the face of heartache. Thelma’s mind was sharp, and she was dressed like she was going to church the first night we met. Her white hair was perfectly styled, her lipstick was bursting with color against her pale skin, and she wore nylons, heels, a skirt, and…
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Help, I Feel Like I Don’t Fit in
The scents of vanilla bean body spray and cherry blossom lotion waft through the door before I even enter the room. I hear them laughing, talking about children, and discussing essential oils as I pass through the threshold. It’s my first meeting with the Moms’ Group, and familiar anxiety rises in my chest. I wonder where I’ll sit and immediately feel like I don’t fit in here. I scan the room as I wait in line to fill out my nametag. My box-like letters look like they were penned by an eight-year-old boy, while the other women etch their letters with elegant calligraphy. Awesome. Why did I not take cursive…
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3 Questions to Help You Find Your Calling in Life
Have you been trying to find your calling in life and coming up empty? You’re in the right place. Let’s jump right in and talk about how to find our God-given callings. How to Find Your Calling in Life I remember where I was the moment I decided I wanted to be a teacher. It was my junior year of high school, and I was sitting on a grassy hill watching mist ascend over viridescent fields. It was my favorite season of the year, the season that seemed to awaken every part of me, track and field season. Sitting on the wet earth, I searched my life for the places…
