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I Don’t Fit in: Insights to Change Your Perspective
A few years ago, I stepped about a million miles out of my comfort zone and attended a conference for women who feel called to write and speak. The weekend was filled with informational seminars, discussion groups, and motivational speakers. I was anxious about the weekend for plenty of reasons, and one of my deepest concerns was a quiet voice that whispered, “What if I don’t fit in?” The fear of not fitting in can feel surprising as an adult. You walk into a crowded room, and you suddenly feel like a middle schooler looking for a place to sit in the school cafeteria. I wrestled through these fears as…
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How to Overcome Anxiety With God’s Help
I stand on a sand-sprinkled kitchen floor and stare down a list that’s growing longer every day. Springtime brings an expansive array of new endeavors, and if I’m not careful, my mind will spiral out of control with anxious thoughts. I’ll find myself sitting in a dark corner praying to overcome anxiety with God’s help. Henry David Thoreau said, “It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” I think of Thoreau’s words, and I realize I need a plan. Anxious thoughts are creeping in, and if I don’t get a grip, who knows what will happen. I’m not sure I…
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Please Help Me, God! I Need You!
Dawn breaks softly, and I stare down another day with its never-ending tasks. “Please help me, God! I’m drowning over here,” I whisper as I prepare to descend the stairs and begin the day. We’re living in pandemic times, which means I’ll be juggling again today. I’ll teach my kids, cook dinner, keep the little one from drawing on the walls (maybe), fold laundry, try to exercise, shower (probably not), lock myself in the laundry room with something chocolate, and complete at least 200 small but cumulative tasks. It feels like a lot. I’ve been crying randomly and feeling ridiculous about it. These are the days when my life leaves…
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How to Slow Down, Relax, and Enjoy Your Life
Are you tired of running on empty and feeling stressed out? Do you want to learn how to slow down, relax, and enjoy your life? Today, we’ll talk about several simple ways to find the peace you crave. How to Slow Down, Relax, and Enjoy Life I take myself to the woods on a warm autumn afternoon, and the golden canopy gazes down like God bottled up all the happiness in the world and imbibed it into the maples. Going to the woods is my way of stepping out of life’s rushed rhythms. I open my Bible to these familiar words: “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,…
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How to Feel God’s Presence in Your Life
Not long ago, I texted a friend and told her about long days in a house filled with noisy children. “I want to know how to feel God’s presence when life mostly feels overwhelming,” I vented. Her response came seasoned with wisdom. First, she reminded me that regardless of whether I feel God’s presence or not, his presence is always with me. “Feelings are futile,” she offered. “Instead of aiming to feel God’s presence, what if you aimed to be fully present to the moments unfolding around you?” She then offered the following six words: “Breathe deeply, love deeply, laugh deeply.” These words have echoed in my mind since she…
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7 Stress Relief Bible Verses About Worry and Stress
After a long winter, a hint of auburn crowns the tree line on the eastern horizon. The buds are emerging on the maples. I’ve been feeling anxious about some changes that will take place in our next season. In response, I open my Bible in search of stress relief Bible verses about worry and stress in life. I need these Truths to wash over me as I step forward without fear or anxiety. Perhaps you need to soak in these assurances, too. Stress Relief Bible Verses About Worry and Stress in Life As I admire the trees, it seems God is pouring his love out as he pours color onto…
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How to Overcome Fear With Faith
Not long ago, our family faced a battle with fear that surpassed any fear we’d ever known. As we wrestled with fear regarding the life of our child, I wrestled with God as I asked him to help me overcome fear with faith. On a cognitive level, I knew the answer: Faith pushes out fear and reminds us of where we find our hope. On a heart level, I had much to learn about walking by faith. How to Overcome Fear With Faith In the months following our child’s frightening medical diagnosis, I turned to God in desperation. I asked him to show me what it looked like to rise…
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How to Find Strength in God When Life Is Tough
Winter was bearing down on us with a stranglehold that left me breathless at times. Every morning, I sat beside the window and wondered whether our family was about to walk down the most broken road we’d ever known. Day after day, I opened God’s Word in hopes that I might to discover how to find strength in God as we faced our storm. There was a medical prognosis on the horizon, and I was terrified. I’d been standing on Truth that held the power to slay the giant of fear. I’d been rebuking, taking back ground, worshiping, and fixing my eyes on the pure and good. Nevertheless, as I…
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Seven Secrets for Deeper Joy in Life
It’s an unseasonably warm Thursday afternoon, aspen leaves covering the ground with a golden blanket—kind of like they’ve absorbed every ounce of joy in life and put it on display for the world to see. I rush through the aisles of the discount grocery store, filling my cart to the brim as other shoppers scurry to get in front of me. I’ve forgotten all about slowing to live the kind of life that breathes, laughs, and loves. When the last loaf of bread is scanned and placed gently on top of my pile, I push the cart to the counter where toddlers sit and elderly ladies pause to pack their…
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How to Embrace Change: 8 Mindsets to Help You
It happened on a balmy August evening with locusts droning on like a reminder that the earth would keep spinning, even if my world had shifted in an uncomfortable direction. It was time to learn how to embrace change, and it wasn’t going to be a lesson that came easily. We will all face seasons of drastic change in life, and that August evening threw me like few others. In a matter of minutes, every dream I’d been dreaming – every plan I’d been carefully laying down like a piece of some giant puzzle – fell to the wayside, and I was left alone with a radically shifted set of…
