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6 Creative Ideas to Help You Show Hospitality This Fall
It’s a clear evening overlooking Granite Creek. The sun has slipped behind the canyon walls, and alpenglow paints the West Ridge salmon. I’m not thinking about how to show hospitality this evening – not in the least. The year is 2001, and I’ve just entered the identity-searching decade of my twenties. This will be the decade when I stumble blindly in the relentless search for the woman I want to become. I’ll begin my teaching career in the public high school. I have no way of knowing these things now, of course. For now, I’m content with my three-month job of washing dishes in the lodge where the teachers come…
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10 Empowering Prayers for Strength and Wisdom
Our little boy presses his face to mine in the silence of the night, and I drink it in. He’s inching ever closer to his fourth year, and I wonder how it’s all going so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was uttering prayers for strength and wisdom as the doctor pulled him from my body. We rock long into the early hours of a new day, and every time I try to put him down, he says, “Hold me one more minute.” I don’t have the heart to put him back in bed with this fever, this cough wracking his little body. I’m content to hold him through…
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10 Bible Verses for Burnout (Including Practical Ways to Recover)
Most of us will face burnout. When this happens, God’s Word can help us find refreshment. Today, we’ll explore 10 Bible verses for burnout and explore practical ways to apply these truths to our lives. I invite you to join me as I sit in the forest and reflect on the state of my soul. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook that will help you establish a rhythm of connecting with the presence of the life-giving God daily. 10 Bible Verses for Burnout August stretches her long arms toward autumn, and it’s hard to believe these barefoot days will soon be…
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25 Morning Bible Verses to Start Your Day
I sit on the deck as the ironweed bows its royal head in the late-summer breeze. Opening my Bible, I soak in God’s Word as I begin the new day. Scripture renews our minds. For this reason, there is no better way to start the day than by soaking in morning Bible verses for the new day. Morning Bible Verses for a Fresh Start These words remind me to keep watching and listening for God’s hand in every corner of my life. I pray these words will challenge you to slow down and let God speak into your quiet places, busy places, and all the places in between. He is…
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8 Life-Changing Prayers for Your Kids
I recently wrote my kids’ names on the front of my prayer journal as a reminder to pray for them every day. Much to my frustration, I often stare at their names and draw a blank. If you’re like me, you want to pray powerful prayers for your kids, but sometimes you get stuck. How to Pray Life-Changing Prayers for Your Kids When I feel stuck, I pull out this list of eight life-changing prayers and pray from it. I originally wrote these Bible-based prayers at the start of a new school year, but now I pray them all year long. My hope is that these prayers will help you…
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Passion for God: 8 Ways to Fan the Flame
A thin band of sunlight slips through the window and illuminates a dried bouquet of thistle across the room. Lately, my passion for God seems to be wilting like the dried bouquet. I remember the day we gathered the thistle. It was warm for November, and the threat of the impending months of darkness and snow weighed on me. We went to the fields and gathered thistle, horsetails, and milkweed. We hoped that bringing life inside might somehow lengthen the months when the weather would stop us from wandering through fields of wildflowers. Months later, I gaze at the bouquet as worship music plays. I silently ask God to give…
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10 Biblical Affirmations for Kids of All Ages
Not long ago, our family shared a moment that reminded me of the importance of speaking biblical affirmations over our kids. Join us in the backyard, and we’ll talk about teaching our kids to stand on their identities in Christ. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for three devotional books to affirm your children’s identities in Christ. Biblical Affirmations for Your Kids I wasn’t thinking about developing our daughter’s identity in Christ when it happened. It was a balmy August evening, and rays of sinking sun shone white on the lawn as we finished dinner on the deck. My husband Darrell offered to take the kids…
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Hope for Your Hidden Pain and Unspoken Struggles
Our kids looked adorable together, and someone said something about taking a photo. It was after the comment about how they’ll look nice together at prom someday that his eyes filled with embarrassed tears. He buried his face in his mom’s hip and wiped them away on the hem of her shirt. The moment got me thinking about our hidden pain in life. I understood the little guy’s struggle. I hid my tears throughout most of my childhood too. No one ever made fun of me for crying. I simply thought I needed to appear strong. All the time. The Truth About Hidden Pain We all have struggles and weaknesses.…
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How to Ignite Your Faith When You Feel Spiritually Stagnant
We’re driving through farm country when I hear my little boy singing with the radio in the backseat, “I gotta get that fire, fire back in my bones.” He’s three, and he’s not easy to understand, but I hear him loud and clear. His words get me thinking. I want to be a woman of fiery faith. Maybe you want to learn how to ignite your faith in a dry season, too. You are in the right place. The idea of fiery faith lingers in my mind for days after our moment in the car. I consider it as I sit by the sliding glass door in the early morning…
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5 Tools for the Days When Your Quiet Time With Jesus Is Boring
We’re sitting on my couch when my friend asks a question that no one has ever asked me: “Is your daily quiet time with Jesus bringing you into life-giving encounters with him?” I stare blankly at my friend while the wrens chatter outside the window. Then, I tell her the gut-honest truth: Most days, I’m just checking “quiet time with Jesus” off a list of things to accomplish for the day. It’s one more task on a never-ending list. I wonder if you can relate. Perhaps you want to connect with God in the quiet moments of your days, but you’re distracted, restless, and quite possibly even bored. If you’re like…
