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How God Uses Brokenness in Your Life to Touch Others
The sun rises salmon over a row of spindly pines, and I stare out the window with an ache in my abdomen. We’ve walked through our fair share of challenges throughout the past months, and I feel a little too weak – a little too broken – to do anything other than sit in this silence and ponder it all. I’m thinking about how God uses brokenness to shape us to the image of Christ when a message appears on my phone. A new friend who lives on the other side of town wants to get together for coffee. She tells me she doesn’t know much about God and that…
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10 Bible Verses About Passion and Purpose in Life
I sit along the trickling creek as ribbons of fading daylight twirl through a canopy of maples. I’m here to talk to God about my life, and I’ve brought my Bible in search of Bible verses about passion and purpose in my life. Life has been full and blessed lately. The house is filled with the noise of children. Our days are spent splashing in this creek and riding bikes along the winding path. We are surrounded by blessings. These days with the kids also offer very little downtime. If I’m not preparing a meal for someone, I’m cleaning up or scooping food into a little mouth. If I’m not…
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Why You Don’t Have to Fear Being an Outsider
It’s a brisk Thursday morning, and as the alarm clock sounds, I consider backing out of the commitment I made last week. I told a friend I’d join her at a new group for moms. Today, I want nothing more than to stay in my sweatpants all day and avoid the awkward feeling of being an outsider. As I lie motionless in bed, I pause to be brutally honest with myself. I decide I’m done wearing a mask, fitting into a mold, and attempting to straighten my curly hair—all to avoid being an outsider in a world of insiders. C.S. Lewis on Being an Outsider Most of us learn about…
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3 Ways to Let Go of Regret and Overcome Guilt
Thelma and I became friends when she was 94. I showed up at the nursing home one December evening with framed photos of angels and gave them to the elderly residents for Christmas. It was a quiet act of kindness, and I had no way of knowing that it would lead me to one day learn how to let go of regret in the face of heartache. Thelma’s mind was sharp, and she was dressed like she was going to church the first night we met. Her white hair was perfectly styled, her lipstick was bursting with color against her pale skin, and she wore nylons, heels, a skirt, and…
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3 Questions to Help You Find Your Calling in Life
Have you been trying to find your calling in life and coming up empty? You’re in the right place. Let’s jump right in and talk about how to find our God-given callings. How to Find Your Calling in Life I remember where I was the moment I decided I wanted to be a teacher. It was my junior year of high school, and I was sitting on a grassy hill watching mist ascend over viridescent fields. It was my favorite season of the year, the season that seemed to awaken every part of me, track and field season. Sitting on the wet earth, I searched my life for the places…
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5 Meaningful Conversation Starters to Foster Hospitality
Do you want to be the kind of person with whom others feel safe sharing their hearts? If so, it can be helpful to have a handful of meaningful conversation starters ready and waiting! I’ve been mentoring younger women for many years. Some of these women open up easily, and I don’t have to use my memorized conversation starters. At other times, these five categories for starting conversations are invaluable. I pray they bless you today, too. 5 Categories of Meaningful Conversation Starters The following five categories for asking deeper questions are etched in my mind, and when I meet to talk with a new friend or to directly mentor…
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5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing and Replenishment
Not long ago, I realized I was facing spiritual burnout. As I pursued restoration, I began regularly praying several prayers for spiritual healing and replenishment. I invite you to join me on the morning when I recognized the source of my exhaustion, and I’ll share my prayers for healing. 5 Prayers for Spiritual Healing and Replenishment The rose-colored glow rising from behind the spruce trees reminds me of alpenglow against the Rockies at dawn. Somehow, God’s light shining into our dark places is magical no matter where in the world we find ourselves. As I sit in the morning light, I long to draw near to God. As usual, the…
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How to Put People First and Stop Chasing Performance
I went to the woods because I was tired of chasing the bottom of a never-ending to-do list. Tired of trying to measure up, improve my craft, and perform. There was a quiet whisper in my heart, a whisper that nudged me to put people first, and it was time to take a long look at my life and discern what was no longer working. As I walked toward a cattail-thick swamp, my mind drifted to the words of the well-established literary agent who assessed my writing not long ago. She told me my craft and my content were good, but I needed to build my platform and expand my…
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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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15 Attitudes That Cultivate Biblical Hospitality
Ten years ago, I was just learning what it meant to offer biblical hospitality. My husband and I lived in a little home at least a dozen miles from anything worthy of being called a town. Mostly, we kept company with the deer and coyotes that walked through our front yard on cool autumn nights. I’d been investing in the life of a younger woman for a few months, and I finally invited her to our modest little home to chat. As the evening wore on, I wanted to hear more about her life, about the struggles that had shaped her and the truths that defined her. I asked deep…
