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Your Pain Has a Purpose, and This Is Part of It . . .
A wide arc of geese honks overhead like a black thread woven through the grey. I watch them from the deck and remember a similar evening several years ago. I sat on this same deck and let these words wash over me: “Your pain has a purpose. Don’t rush through this valley of suffering.” I was at the end of a long season of suffering, and most of the time, I couldn’t see the purpose of the pain. It seemed entirely unnecessary. Maybe you can relate. You want to know your pain has a purpose. Meanwhile, for the most part, it seems unnecessary. Your pain has a purpose, and this…
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How to Embrace Yourself the Way You Are: 8 Ways
Do you ever compare yourself to others and feel like you don’t measure up? Maybe you want to learn how to embrace yourself the way you are, but you don’t know where to begin. You are in the right place today. I invite you to join me in the woods, and we’ll talk about the parts of our lives that make us feel unique as we aim to embrace ourselves as we are. How to Embrace Yourself Just the Way You Are The bluebells have returned. Emerging from rocky soil as if breaking into the light took no effort at all, they hang their huddled heads—embarrassed by their brilliance. It…
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When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Window—or Does He?
A scrim of periwinkle clouds hangs low in the morning blue. I stand at the window and admire the scene with an aching heart. The thrum of disappointment beats in cadence with my pulse, and I think of an often-repeated adage: “When God closes a door, he opens a window.” I’m not sure who said this first, but in my experience, it’s not always how life works out. When God closes a door, it often feels like being locked in a dark room with no clue of where to turn next. I’ve experienced this more than a few times, and I suspect you have, too. We set our goals and…
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How to Begin Again: 3 Insights
A towering hemlock casts a sleepy shadow on bare earth, and a pine squirrel gnaws on a walnut from its unseen perch overhead. I am in the woods with a stack of books and a journal—intent on seeking God and as I ask him how to begin again after a setback in my life. As springtime sunlight floods the forest, it feels like a day to lean into new beginnings. I’ve been feeling restless lately. I’ve been trying to write and struggling to find words. I wonder, Is this God’s way of redirecting my path? I’m mulling this over as I open the thin pages of my Bible, and I…
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20 Mother Daughter Prayers for a Closer Relationship
I recently went for a long walk with our teenage daughter and was inspired to be more intentional about praying with her and for her. Today, I’m sharing the mother daughter prayers that are helping me lift her before God’s throne more consistently. If you’re looking for prayers to pray over your mother-daughter relationship, I invite you to slowly talk to God as you pray the following prayers. 20 Mother Daughter Prayers for a Closer Relationship Regardless of whether you plan to pray together or pray over each other from a distance, these unifying prayers can help strengthen your mother-daughter bond and lead you closer to God in the meantime.…
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5 Hope-Filled Prayers for Grieving Families
A few months ago, a family in our community endured a heart-wrenching loss. Every time I read updates about their painful journey, I felt like my heart was pierced, and tears flooded my eyes. At the culmination of their awful journey, I visited the Facebook page where they had been posting updates. As I read through the kind and encouraging words written by those who were supporting them, the pain of entering into their story was almost more than I could bear. I was about to close the Facebook page and move on to something different—mostly to assuage the torrent of emotions I was feeling—when a quiet voice whispered, “Stay.”…
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7 Refreshing Bible Verses (and 11 Ways to Be Refreshed)
Yesterday morning, I awoke with a deep desire to go to the woods—to inhale the scent of the creek bottom, decomposing maple leaves, and pungent earth. As I sat with my Bible, I was reminded that God wanted to renew my mind with his written Word, and I let the following refreshing Bible verses wash over me. 7 Refreshing Bible Verses Do you long for the refreshment that comes from God alone? I invite you to soak in these words today as well. Refreshing Bible Verses for the Worn and Weary 1. Psalm 97:11-12 (NIV) “Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD,…
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Falling Behind in Life: Permission to Be Where You Are
If you’ve been reading my words for any amount of time, you know how often I write about slowing down and cultivating rhythms of rest. I thought I was an expert at slowing down. Then I picked up Jennifer Dukes Lee’s book, Growing Slow, and her words stopped me in my tracks: “We need permission to be where we are.” Tears filled my eyes as I recognized an underlying sense that I was falling behind in life. Falling Behind in Life Yes, I thought as I read her words. I do need permission to be here—right here, right now. And so began my journey into giving myself permission to be…
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8 Life-Changing Prayers for Your Daughter
Last night, I followed my daughter through a withered field of wildflowers as dusk chased us toward the forest. Often, I silently pray for her as we walk along this trail. I pray for her friendships, her faith, her worries, and her dreams. I pray for God to guide our conversations and unite our hearts. Like me, you might want to pray life-changing prayers for your daughter, but you don’t always know what to pray. Whether your daughter is two or sixty-two, here are eight biblical prayers for your daughter. 8 Powerful Prayers for Your Daughter 1. Pray that troubles and difficulties lead her to rely on Christ. Our daughter…
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Submitting Your Emotions to God: 3 Steps to Help You
I spent most of my life believing that my emotions needed to be controlled and surpressed. Not recognizing the biblical truth that my emotions were God-given, I often wrestled with the intensity of my feelings. If you can relate, you’re in the right place. Today, I’ll invite you to begin the process of submitting your emotions to God. As we walk through this process, I invite you to join me as I walked through this process myself. Submitting Your Emotions to God Tufts of fog hover beneath an apricot sky as storm clouds roll eastward on the wings of dusk. I sit by the window and focus on breathing slowly.…
