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The Lie You Might Believe if You’re in the Refining Fire
The yellowing leaves on the fringes of the property line remind me of an October years ago when the bottom fell out. The first full month of autumn felt like a journey into a refining fire that went on without end. First, the puppy died suddenly. Then, there was a serious health scare, followed by the loss of another precious pet dog that had been a part of the family for four years. We all stared at each other and wondered how in the world God saw fit to take them both in two short months. When we prayed it wouldn’t get worse, it did. We faced life-long diagnoses, thousands…
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Transform Your Mind by Overcoming These Toxic Mindsets
There are monarchs on the milkweed, and the sun sinks fiery white above the overgrown weed fields behind the house. “They’re not weeds,” five-year-old Caleb contends, “They’re flowers.” I smile at his words. Maybe he knows the hidden secret about how to really transform your mind when the weeds creep in. “I guess it depends on what you want to call them,” I tell the little guy. “One person’s weeds are another person’s flowers.” We walk to the spot where the fields border the yard – where the monarchs stretch their marmalade wings on the sticky milkweed leaves – and I clip a bouquet for the dining room table. A…
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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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How to be Brave when God Calls You to Follow
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. 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 change, and it wasn’t going to be change that came softly and easily. It was a change that was going to require me to…
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How to Stay Connected to God When Life Is Full
The house quiets as the school bus rolls away, and I take a moment to pause and review the past few months. I try to do this a few times each year as a way of assessing my rhythms. It’s my way of stepping back to consider how to stay connected to God when life is full. Golden beams of sunlight pierce the windowpane, and I consider the ways God has been moving in my life. I see the calling to be more disciplined in my thought life. I’ve been learning to see what’s right and stop focusing on what’s wrong in my days. I’ve been learning to be more…
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Rewire Your Brain and Get Unstuck in Your Life
A menagerie of black walnuts has fallen from above and is crushed on our gravel road. I walk over the coffee-colored streaks and consider the months ahead. When the walnuts fall, summer is nearly over. Looking ahead, no part of me is ready for the long winter months to come. Just how do you rewire your brain when your future feels bleak? I cringe at the thought of long evenings inside the house, whiteouts rolling in from the west, and evening walks down this same country road with toes numb from the cold. How to Rewire Your Brain I’m mulling it over when the words of Dr. Caroline Leaf come…
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How to Pray Powerful Prayers for Your Inner Circle
I watch our baby boy sleep on the other side of the room while rain streams down the sliding glass door. His eyelids flutter as he dreams, and I ask God to lead me as I aim to pray powerful prayers for this little one’s life. I’ve been juggling lately. I’ve been juggling my writing career, my friendships, my relationship with God, my family, and more. We each have our own kinds of juggling. We juggle careers, relationships, and self-care. Our quiet and hidden work often feels more humble than our public service. Meanwhile, the hidden service is often the most important work. And a vital part of this hidden…
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Drowning in Life? This is for You
I feel like I’m drowning in life the day we take the kids to my parents’ pool for a reprieve. Life has been full, and my to-do list threatens to suffocate me. Caring for the needs of three young children, juggling my writing work, maintaining friendships, investing in our marriage, and making time for self-care is nothing short of exhausting. Perhaps you can relate. Maybe the demands of your days feel crushing, and you feel like you’re drowning in life, too. Today, I invite you to join me at my parents’ swimming pool, and we’ll have an honest conversation about what to do when we feel like we might just…
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What to Do When You Hit a Spiritual Slump
Are you stuck in a spiritual slump? Read these words from my recent post at Women Wielding the Word: I remember reading the words on a sun-splattered spring dawn, and I could not honestly say I related. The words went like this: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2 NIV). I want both my heart and my flesh to literally yearn – to hunger – for God, but there are plenty of mornings when I open my Bible with waning enthusiasm. A wise mentor once compared daily Bible reading to a daily bowl…
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Start Praying for Your Children With This Life-Changing Prayer
The new school year always prompts me to be more intentional about praying for my kids as I send them into the world. If you can relate—if you want to be more consistent when it comes to praying for your children—this is for you today. I’ve been praying for my little ones for over a decade now. Over the years, I’ve discovered one powerful prayer that has changed the way I parent and the way I encourage my kids. Start Praying for Your Children Like This . . . Before I share the prayer I pray for my kids every single day, let me invite you into the evening God…
