Stacey Pardoe

Encountering God in the Ordinary

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  • Overcoming Trials

    How to Choose Worship Over Worry: 4 Practical Tips

    June 4, 2025 /

    The forest pushes heavenward, reaching toward the sky with a desperation that makes my heart ache.  Life has been challenging here lately.  As much as I want to choose worship over worry, my worries have been consuming me. As I stand at the kitchen sink and stare at the forest outside, I consider the trees.  At times, it seems as if all of creation cries out for redemption—deliverance. I wash a menagerie of spoons, knives, and plastic children’s bowls as the morning light rises behind the tree line.  That’s when I notice a single beam of heaven’s light reaching down to touch the treetops. “Yes,” I whisper, “This.” This will…

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    7 Bible Verses About Being Stuck (and Tips for Breaking Free)

    March 6, 2024

    12 Ways to Destroy the Works of the Devil

    April 30, 2025

    When God Disappoints You, Find Your Hope Here…

    February 10, 2021
  • Overcoming Trials

    How to Stop Worrying and Start Trusting God: 8 Ways

    January 29, 2025 /

    Wolf Creek swells with freeze-up. Spilling its saffron onto the bleach-white bank like an unwanted stain on a clean tablecloth, I wonder how far the water will rise before the ice has done its work. I decide not to worry about the way this valley will soon change.  Meanwhile, the scene leads me to think about how to stop worrying and start trusting God in the other realms of my life. I want to trust him with our kids as they navigate the challenges of life. I want to trust him with our future as we step slowly into change. As I walk along the riverbank, I talk to God. …

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    7 Stress Relief Bible Verses About Worry and Stress

    April 1, 2020

    Leave It to God: 4 Ways to Cast Your Cares on Him

    July 24, 2024

    12 Ways to Destroy the Works of the Devil

    April 30, 2025
  • Overcoming Trials

    10 Bible Verses to Calm Anxiety and Fear

    September 18, 2024 /

    The sky glows roseate as the sun ascends silently, and I gaze out the window.  Instead of embracing the moment, I realize that my chest feels tight with some unidentified source of anxiety.  “Lord, show me what I need to know,” I whisper.  Opening my Bible, I begin listing them in my journal: Bible verses to calm anxiety and fear. 10 Bible Verses to Calm Anxiety and Fear As I soak in the words, my mind quiets. The inner chaos settles. God’s presence slowly begins to fill me with peace. If you could use more peace today, I invite you to join me as we soak in these verses to…

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    Lead Me to the Rock That Is Higher Than I

    August 7, 2024

    God Is Enough for Every Storm You Face

    May 6, 2020

    Trials of Faith: 3 Promises for Tough Times

    February 22, 2023
  • Overcoming Trials

    10 Tension-Easing Bible Verses for Stress at Work

    September 4, 2024 /

    The creek writes its story in splashes of emerald and sandstone brown.  I sit beside its clear waters with a heavy heart.  The year is 2003, and I’ve just started my teaching career.  Much to my frustration, the demands of the job are quickly shattering my dreamy ideals.  I pull out my Bible as I sit in the forest, opening it with hopes of finding a few Bible verses for stress at work. Regardless of where we work, most of us face workplace stress. When these times come, God’s Truth can lift our heads and help us press forward. The verses I’m sharing today carried me through my first year…

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    When You Feel All Alone in the World

    July 8, 2020

    10 Anchoring Bible Verses for Uncertainty in Life

    February 27, 2019

    6 Miscarriage Prayers for a Friend or Loved One

    March 31, 2017
  • Overcoming Trials

    Leave It to God: 4 Ways to Cast Your Cares on Him

    July 24, 2024 /

    The wheat field bends low in waves of ragged green as an evening storm blows in.  Like velvet brushed by an unseen hand, the monochrome swath is broken.  “Leave it to God,” I whisper as I stroll down our country road.  Meanwhile, the same ethereal hand seems to sweep my cares away with the wind. I come to cast my cares on the Lord out here beneath these open skies as often as possible.  Sometimes, I list my worries one by one.  At other times, I imagine opening my heart and letting the One who sees every part of me wash away the concerns that are weighing too heavily. I…

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    A Powerful Prayer for Healing Your Hardest Memories

    June 29, 2022

    10 Bible Verses to Calm Anxiety and Fear

    September 18, 2024

    A Refiner’s Fire Story and a Prayer for the Fires of Life

    May 1, 2019
  • Purposeful Living

    An Advent Devotional for Less Stress and Deeper Peace

    November 13, 2023 /

    After years of writing, I finally decided to release an online Advent devotional this year!  I pray these readings help you slow down, cultivate wonder, and connect with the Lord.  I’m releasing it a few weeks before Advent begins so that you can have it on hand and start reading in December. Here’s a glimpse into this new online devotional.  I pray it blesses you deeply. Still My Soul: An Advent Devotional for Deeper Peace I sit with the dawn and let my thoughts gather.  The grey morning light lifts her sleepy head, and the thin air is embroidered with a crimson cardinal’s song.  My mind is scattered, and I…

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    5 Ways to Celebrate Autumn Without the Spookiness

    October 6, 2017

    Live Yielded to God for Sweetness of Spirit

    March 16, 2020
    back-to-school prayers

    7 Back-to-School Prayers for the New School Year

    August 12, 2020
  • Overcoming Trials

    A Calming Prayer for Anxiety, Worry, and Fear

    June 7, 2023 /

    The hollow growl of a thunderstorm awakens me well past midnight.  I turn to look out the open window and watch the skyline flicker white.  Four sleepless hours later, I lie on my back and utter a calming prayer with the hopes of quieting the noise inside my head . . . A Calming Prayer for Anxiety, Worry, and Fear My calming prayer goes like this: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you.” The prayer is from Isaiah 26:3. It’s a promise for peace to cover us as we place our trust in God and keep our thoughts fixed…

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    God Is Always Listening and Hears Our Cries

    December 28, 2021

    10 Bible Verses About God’s Faithfulness in Life’s Storms

    April 13, 2022

    The Power of Trusting God: 7 Ways to Grow in Trust

    April 6, 2022
  • Purposeful Living

    How to Declutter Your Mind With God’s Help

    May 24, 2023 /

    Last night I took a walk beneath a canopy of beech trees as patches of fog hovered over the creek beside me.  I’d spent the week keeping up with the kids and trying to stay on top of a full schedule.  Desperate to sort through my thoughts and declutter my mind, the forest called me. Sometimes, it’s hard to know where to begin when it comes to sorting through our mental chaos. I go outside when my mind feels cluttered. As I watch the sun sink beneath the hills or listen to the sound of red squirrels gnawing on walnuts, my mind clears. Nature offers space to sort through my…

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    Family Devotions: 3 Simple Tips for Success

    August 23, 2023

    3 Ways to Let Go of Regret and Overcome Guilt

    May 8, 2019

    How to See God’s Glory in Your Everyday 

    February 21, 2022
  • Transformation

    Submitting Your Emotions to God: 3 Steps to Help You

    March 15, 2023 /

    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.…

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    A Life-Changing Book for Your Women’s Small Group

    February 9, 2024

    Rewire Your Brain and Get Unstuck in Your Life

    September 4, 2019

    How to Empty Yourself and Let God Fill You

    August 28, 2024
  • Overcoming Trials

    10 Bible Verses to Help With Anxiety and Fear

    February 15, 2023 /

    The amber light of morning finds me through a partially drawn curtain.  Within the first moments of the day, my mind returns to a situation that’s been filling me with anxious thoughts.  “Not today, fear,” I whisper, and I open my Bible in search of Truth.  Instead of meditating on my fears today, I decide to make a list of Bible verses to help with anxiety and fear. 10 Bible Verses to Help With Anxiety and Fear Opening my Bible, I’m reminded that when anxiety and fear come at me, I always have a choice.  I can buckle beneath the weight of my paralyzing emotions—giving the enemy a seat at…

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    8 Encouraging Bible Verses About Overcoming Adversity

    March 23, 2022

    7 Stress Relief Bible Verses About Worry and Stress

    April 1, 2020

    Overcoming the Spirit of Frustration

    July 21, 2021
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I’m so glad you’re here!

Welcome to Encountering God in the Ordinary. I'm Stacey Pardoe, and I hope to help you connect with God in ways that refresh and restore your soul. I warmly invite you to get started by checking out my library of free devotional books on my “Free eBooks” page.

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My Books

A mother-daughter devotional book to help moms and daughters connect with each other and grow closer to God! Written with my teen daughter, Bekah!

God is waiting to set you free!

Lean Into Grace

Are you tired of feeling stuck in some area of your life? God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you've been unable to achieve through willpower alone. Let Lean Into Grace lead you into God's love as he heals your heart, refreshes your soul, and sets you free.

A mother-daughter shared devotional journal just for teen girls and moms!

This mother-daughter devotional helps moms and daughters discuss tricky topics, including purity, peer pressure, dating, and more, while also leading them both closer to God.

I also offer more than a dozen free eBooks and online devotionals!

Check out this link to view and download more than a dozen free eBooks and online devotionals.

Recent Posts

  • Persevere in Prayer: A Simple Tip for a More Consistent Prayer Life
  • How to Choose Worship Over Worry: 4 Practical Tips
  • 7 Prayers for Joy and Peace No Matter What You’re Facing
  • 6 Prayers for Loving Others Even When They’re Hard to Love
  • 7 Powerful Scriptures for Spiritual Attacks
  • What Is the Spirit of Offense & How to Overcome It
  • Is God Calling You to a Balanced Life? (10 Insightful Scriptures on Balance in Life)
  • The Secret No One Tells You in Your Lowest Moment
  • 14 Free Devotional Books to Help You Grow With God
  • A Free 2024 New Year Devotional to Help You Grow With God
  • How to Cling to the Lord When You'd Rather Cling to Control
  • Your Pain Has a Purpose, and This Is Part of It . . .
  • How to Find Freedom From Your Secret Sins
  • How to Stop Worrying and Trust God in Tough Times
  • The Lie You Might Believe if You're in the Refining Fire

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