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8 Scriptures on Purpose and Vision for Challenging Seasons
I wake up grumpy after a particularly difficult week of teaching my kindergartner while the one-year-old howls from the high chair. There’s no way around it: I’m struggling with life. I didn’t sign up for this. Pulling out my Bible, I begin digging for Scriptures on purpose and vision. Maybe you need these words today, too. Maybe the job that once felt like your calling now feels like drudgery, or maybe you’ve been trying to find God’s purpose for your life and falling short. Wherever this day finds you, I invite you to join our family in a challenging season as we explore what God’s Word says about purpose and…
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3 Unconventional Ways to Worship God While You Work
You are completely exhausted as you drive home after a long day of living out your calling. You know there are four loads of laundry waiting to be folded. The floors are filthy, and dinner waits to be cooked. You’d give just about anything to lie on the couch in front of the TV instead of diving into the work. The last thing on your mind is construing ways to worship God in the middle of your work. Perhaps the idea of worshiping while you work feels like a pursuit reserved for women who don’t have full schedules – or kids. I feel you. I see you. I’m standing with…
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Empty Inside? Take These 3 Steps Today and Get Filled
Fog hovers over clear water this morning. I sit in silence as my soul waits for the Healer to reach out and touch these empty places inside of me. When’s the last time you stilled your soul long enough to be real about the places where you feel empty inside? King David penned these words: “My soul waits in silence for God only.” I could use this reminder every day of my life. Because we all have empty spaces. Places where we’re longing for someone to reach out and offer something substantial – something that lasts. David continues his song like this: “From Him is my salvation. He only is…
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Start Your Day Happy With This 20-Second Routine
The alarm sounds, and it’s been less than an hour since I last laid eyes upon the digital numbers. In fact, I believe I saw these red glowing numbers every hour throughout the past night. What do you do when the idea of learning to start your day happy feels entirely unrealistic? I hear a little voice outside the bedroom door. In the room next to me, tiny legs kick hard against the crib mattress as the youngest considers whether or not to cry for more milk. I pray he returns to sleep. How to Start Your Day Happy I’m praying for little Aiden to return to sleep when a…
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10 Bible Verses for Peace and Calm
Does the idea of greater peace sound inviting to you? Today, we’ll explore 10 Bible verses for peace and calm. We’ll also unpack five practical ways to add more peace to our lives. Bible Verses for Peace and Calm in Any Storm Let’s start by looking at God’s Word. Then, we’ll explore ways to step into God’s peace in our everyday lives. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you experience God’s peace. 10 Bible Verses for Peace and Calm 1. Isaiah 26:3 (ESV) You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in…
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How to Be Joyful in the Lord: 7 Secrets
It’s an unseasonably warm Thursday afternoon, aspen leaves covering the ground with a golden blanket. It’s as if they’ve absorbed every ounce of joy in life and put it on display for the world to see. I admire them as I consider how to be joyful in the Lord. Ten minutes later, 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 pursuing joy and think only about knocking out my to-do list for the day. When the last loaf of bread is scanned and placed gently on top of…
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I Am Tired, God: Encouragement for Exhausting Seasons
The evening sky is graying with dusk, and your feet are weary from a full day of living in the thick of your calling. You’re ready for the needy people to head home so you can do the same—so you can take a long break from life and this world with its incessant demands. “I am tired, God,” you whisper. “Please carry me.” Most of us have been here. It might be the classroom where you invest your time teaching young people. Maybe it’s the house where the children rule the schedule, including when you will eat, sleep, and even shower. Perhaps it’s the quiet cubicle where you spend the…
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8 Reassuring Bible Verses About Patience
Most of us are waiting for something. We’re waiting for dreams to come to life, prodigals to return home, and babies to sleep through the night. Some of us are waiting for God to heal our bodies or the bodies of our loved ones. Waiting on God is never easy. Let’s dig into some reassuring Bible verses about patience together today. Bible Verses About Patience The Bible has a lot to say about waiting on God and being patient. I invite you to soak in these Scriptures. Also, be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you experience God’s presence and…
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Stop Being Miserable: 7 Negative Mindsets That Are Stealing Your Joy
I awaken to a twisted knot of sheets, and it’s clear I’ve been wrestling all night long. No part of me wants to get out of this bed and step into my life today. I want to stop being miserable in this season, but I have no worldly clue of what to do about it. Most of us have been here. You wake up to the buzzing alarm, and you have absolutely no desire to return to the same old job in the same tiny cubicle to perform the same fifty tasks in an endless cycle. Or maybe the baby cries two hours before daybreak. You just can’t see starting…
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Why It’s Okay to Lack Satisfaction in Life
It’s a spring-like winter day, and I offer the kids a trip to visit the calves at the neighboring farm. I’m not really thinking about satisfaction in life, but our time under open skies is about to reframe my perspective on winter and on life in general. This time of year, the once-lush fields are dingy with winter. Corn stubble blankets hazel earth, and the verdant clover is drab and beige. We walk beneath grey skies, and from some precisely placed break in the clouds, a fiery sun blazes coral as it slips toward the horizon. We’re walking westward, and it seems we’re chasing down the light. “The sun sure…
