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Giving Control to God: 8 Life-Changing Ways to Let Go
Morning’s first rays of light slip through the curtain panels like beacons of hope. “Lord, help me to let go of control and surrender my life to you today,” I pray. I’ve been on a journey of giving control to God, and every day is an invitation to begin again. My journey began a few months ago when a friend came to visit and asked hard questions. She wanted to know how I was doing in my walk with God and where I felt stuck and discouraged in life. I told her that I sensed God calling me to stop clinging to control. I also noted that giving control to God…
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7 Ways to Show Hospitality This Winter
Backyard bonfire days and barefoot swimming parties are a distant memory as we prepare for the long winter months ahead in these parts. Nevertheless, I am reminded that the call to open my heart and home to others has not changed. There are plenty of ways to show hospitality, even in the coldest winter months. While it’s refreshing to invite the neighbors to the backyard for a picnic, it sometimes feels overwhelming to open the doors of our inside worlds and welcome the noise and the mess. If you’re longing for socialization but not sure you want to open wide your front door, remember that hospitality can happen anywhere. 7…
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Seeing God Through Pain and Suffering: 5 Unexpected Things God Is Doing in the Dark
The maples tower grey and unclothed in the valley behind the house. This place looks nothing like the lush sanctuary that enveloped me in its arms two months ago. As I stare out the window, the austerity of the world matches the state of my soul. If I’m honest, I’ve been having trouble seeing God through pain and suffering lately. Seeing God Through Pain and Suffering This season has not come easily here. It has not met our expectations. Some of our dreams have come to life, and some have fallen apart. It’s not always easy to sense God’s presence when you are suffering. But faith isn’t about feeling; it’s…
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How to Have a Closer Relationship With God: 8 Ways
Our world is quieting with the breath of winter now, and the barren maples at the field’s edge speak of what is to come. I want to learn how to have a closer relationship with God, but there are times when the emptiness of winter amplifies the barrenness I feel inside. How to Have a Closer Relationship With God Six months ago, a friend asked if the ways I’m seeking God in my quiet time are leading me to life-giving encounters with him. When I realized my answer was most often no, I sought God’s heart to encounter him in life-giving ways. Today, I’m returning to these ideas as I…
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5 Meaningful Conversation Starters to Foster Hospitality
Do you want to be the kind of person with whom others feel safe sharing their hearts? If so, it can be helpful to have a handful of meaningful conversation starters ready and waiting! I’ve been mentoring younger women for many years. Some of these women open up easily, and I don’t have to use my memorized conversation starters. At other times, these five categories for starting conversations are invaluable. I pray they bless you today, too. 5 Categories of Meaningful Conversation Starters The following five categories for asking deeper questions are etched in my mind, and when I meet to talk with a new friend or to directly mentor…
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Time With God: Devotional Time Tips for Life’s Busy Seasons
The morning opens wide and foretells the season’s change. I wonder how we keep turning from one season to the next with ever-increasing urgency. Life has been busy and full lately. I’m desperate for some quiet devotional time with God, but I hardly know how to make it happen. I’m watching a V-shaped line of geese flap overhead when I hear my little boy pitter down the steps. He comes into the room and rubs his eyes. His short brown hair stands on end in a playful salute. I’m sure God smiles at sleepy children. “Get me cuppy, Mom,” he demands, and I extend grace about the manners since he’s…
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5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing and Replenishment
Not long ago, I realized I was facing spiritual burnout. As I pursued restoration, I began regularly praying several prayers for spiritual healing and replenishment. I invite you to join me on the morning when I recognized the source of my exhaustion, and I’ll share my prayers for healing. 5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing and Replenishment The rose-colored glow rising from behind the spruce trees reminds me of alpenglow against the Rockies at dawn. Somehow, God’s light shining into our dark places is magical no matter where in the world we find ourselves. As I sit in the morning light, I long to draw near to God. As usual, the…
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The One Truth You Need in Your Darkest Hour
Our little family is feeling just a bit threadbare as we step into this new season of darkness and cold, windy days. We’ve walked through deep waters over the past months, and we are weary. Perhaps you can relate. Maybe you need hope in your darkest hour, or perhaps you feel worn down by the daily grind of your life. Let’s take a few moments to find hope to hold onto in our dark seasons together today. In Your Darkest Hour, Turn Here Winter feels like a dark hour for me. This winter feels especially dark. It reminds me of some big bumps in the road of our lives, things…
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How Waiting on God Just Might Open the Doors of Abundance
I walk past them every week on my way into the grocery store. Perfectly positioned on bales of hay, like the image of everything that’s right and good about autumn, it takes everything I have not to splurge on a burgundy mum for the front stoop. I’m not thinking about waiting on God when I see them, but God will soon use the moms to teach me a valuable lesson. Walking past the autumn décor at the grocery store week after week, I resist the temptation to splurge on what isn’t essential on our tight budget, and I try to ignore the rainbow of mums as they whisper my name…
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How to Put People First and Stop Chasing Performance
I went to the woods because I was tired of chasing the bottom of a never-ending to-do list. Tired of trying to measure up, improve my craft, and perform. There was a quiet whisper in my heart, a whisper that nudged me to put people first, and it was time to take a long look at my life and discern what was no longer working. As I walked toward a cattail-thick swamp, my mind drifted to the words of the well-established literary agent who assessed my writing not long ago. She told me my craft and my content were good, but I needed to build my platform and expand my…
