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How to Love Like Jesus When It Doesn’t Come Easily
A warm wind rustles the maples and sounds like clear water flowing over granite. I’m taken back to a different season. Twenty years ago, God began the deep heart work of teaching me how to love like Jesus, especially when it doesn’t come easily. Working at a summer camp will teach that kind of lesson. God placed me in a quiet canyon where wild Wyoming skies brought adventure on tepid summer afternoons, and campfires beneath the stars on chilling summer nights formed lifelong memories. He placed me among dozens of varied personalities. We melded together like one large, dysfunctional family just trying to keep the peace and keep out of…
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Inspiring Scripture About Serving in Quiet Places
The night before our youngest was born, I took a walk in a thundershower. Something about the way the heavens came pouring out like a flood resonated with the past 40 weeks of my poured-out life. I’d been digging into Scripture about serving in hidden places and clinging to God with all my heart, but I still felt spent. I didn’t really mean to go walking in a storm that night. The radar called for spotty showers. 30 percent. Beneath a thick canopy of maples, the early evening sky looked dusky, even on the brink of Solstice. A low rumble of thunder in the west was the only sign that…
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God Has a Plan for You—Even When He Seems Silent
We awoke to a fresh inch of snow on the lawn on the first day of April, and it felt like one more day tacked onto a never-ending winter. Whether you’re facing a long winter or enduring a difficult season that seems like it will never end, it can be hard to hold onto hope. You need to know that God has a plan for you, especially when he seems silent. Most of us don’t wait well. Waiting for a dream to come to fruition or a difficult time to end can be deeply discouraging. God Has a Plan for You While You Wait King Solomon said it well in…
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How to Know When God Is Leading You: 4 Ways
Have you ever wondered how to know when God is leading you in a new direction? Discerning the difference between our desires and God’s voice can be challenging. Today, we’ll talk about finding direction from God and following his lead. How to Know God is Leading You “If God really speaks to us, then I’d sure like someone to explain the ways God speaks to us,” a younger friend declared as we walked beneath a canopy of blossoming apple trees. There was a hint of frustration in her voice. My friend had been pursuing God and sincerely believed she was following him into a new career endeavor. Her dream seemed…
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Live Yielded to God for Sweetness of Spirit
Hello, friends! I’m honored to share a guest post from my dear friend Kelly Baker with you today! Kelly’s words point to truth, all while offering practical insight for following Christ in the midst of full lives. She is a prayer partner, encourager, and like-minded sister on mission. Enjoy this challenge to cultivate a sweetness of spirit in your life. I was challenged by Kelly’s words, and I trust you will be as well! ~~~ I recently swapped stories of current family trials with Stacey. She declared, “Oh motherhood is such a death to self at times!” What a true statement! I wanted to crawl under my covers and hide…
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15 Bible Verses About Making a Difference
Most of us face moments when we wonder if we’re making a difference in the world. We can turn to God’s Word for hope and encouragement in these times. Today, we’ll look at 15 Bible verses about making a difference. Often, our idea of what it means to make a difference is vastly different from God’s idea. I invite you into my struggle with the idea of making an impact, and we’ll take a closer look at God’s calling for all of us. 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…
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Balanced Spiritually: The Lie You Might Believe About Balance
This morning, snowflakes waltzed on the trodden lawn like tufts of cotton grass bobbing on a summer morning. I’d been thinking about the importance of being balanced spiritually, and that balance felt lacking. Life has felt ridiculously out of balance this winter. A weekly routine once filled with dozens of gratifying and varied tasks has been replaced by what feels like one all-consuming task that drains me of every ounce of energy. It feels as if the twenty equally filled buckets of my life are suddenly empty, and I’m called to pour my life into one prevailing, overflowing bucket that dominates the realm of my daily existence. Today, we’ll have…
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Igniting Your Spiritual Passion: 3 Ways
“What would igniting your spiritual passion look like right now?” a friend asks as we sit in her living room. “If I knew, I’d be doing it,” I admit. “Why don’t you ask God what you need to do?” she asks. I’m about to tell her I’ve already asked him, but I realize she’s onto something. The slow and steady rhythms of life have led me to a season of spiritual dryness, and I haven’t stepped back to ask God what he wants to do in me through this time. In the days that follow, I begin seeking his face, asking what it would look like to run to his…
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How to Make a Prayer List (& a Free Prayer List Template)
Years ago, I walked into a friend’s home and noticed a single sheet of paper that forever changed my prayer life. Hanging in her bedroom was a prayer list containing the names of dozens of people for whom she prayed weekly. If you’re wondering how to make a prayer list, today I’m sharing the simple list-making strategy my friend shared with me. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free prayer list template to personalize and use for yourself. How to Make a Prayer List After seeing my friend’s list, I was convicted that I was not very deliberate in the way I prayed for…
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This Word for the Year Could Change Your Life Forever
Prickly pine needles rise from the carpeting like tiny daggers aimed at stocking feet. I should hoist the vacuum cleaner from the basement and take care of it, but this mounting pressure to pick a word for the year has me glued to the recliner like a woman with a deadline. Last year’s word came effortlessly. Had it not, I might have forsaken the idea altogether. It was a mind-boggling year. I read an article on picking a word of the year last winter, and while I’d picked a Bible verse and name of God for the New Year many times, I’d never picked just one word. Last year on…
