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Jesus’ Words for Your Troubled Times and Mountaintop Moments (with Deb Wolf)
The pines dance silvery-white in the morning sunlight, and if I listen closely enough, I swear I hear them singing in unison. Winter is the quiet season in this part of the world. It’s also the time of year when my soul starts itching for Jesus’ words to reach down from the fiery firmament and speak into my weary heart. Not long ago, God sent more than just a few of Jesus’ words to speak into my life. I was in a season of faithful Bible-reading, but I felt spiritually dry. By God’s grace, he led me to Deb Wolf’s new devotional journal for women. Deb’s 52-Week Devotional Journal for…
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How to Find Freedom From Your Secret Sins
A hint of frost rests on the once-lavender heads of the Canada thistle today. I sit at the window with intentions to soak in God’s restorative presence, but what settles upon me sends a chill down the nape of my neck, like frost on a clear winter dawn. The chill is my body’s response to the reality that the secret sins of my life are not hidden from the One who paints the dawn with shimmering ice. Most of us have secret sins. We want to find freedom, but we feel stuck, and we’re not sure what to do about it. This post will help you find freedom. I also…
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Living in the Presence of God: 3 Ways to Increase Your Awareness
Most mornings, I sit beside our dining room window as first light ascends from behind the eastern tree line. I sit here to get my bearings at the start of each new day. I also sit here because this practice is teaching me about living in the presence of God. I’ve learned that when I begin the day with a few quiet moments spent seeking God’s face, I’m more attuned to his presence throughout the remainder of the day as well. Living in the Presence of God This morning is overcast. There are chickadees at the bird feeder; the colorful songbirds of summer are gone. I watch the tiny birds…
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Finding Rest in God: How to Create Space
The tamaracks are losing their needles again. They fall like golden flecks of rain, a gift from the Father of heavenly lights. I stop in the middle of the country road and let one fall into my open palm. I’m here because finding rest in God often comes most naturally to me beneath open skies. I’ve been longing for a touch from heaven lately, and I’m revisiting an experiment I tried a while back. It’s an experiment in being intentional about seeking God beneath open skies for just a few minutes each day. Finding Rest in God I need space for this weary and burdened soul to stretch heavenward with…
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How to Draw Near to God: 3 Simple Tips
My family bought me Gerber daisies for Mother’s Day last year. The coral blossoms stood like beacons of hope on a dining room table cluttered with puzzles, markers, and an array of toys that seemed to have no rhyme or reason. This morning, I sat at that table with hard questions about how to draw near to God in the middle of my messy life. The disorganized table was the perfect metaphor for life that spring: piles of chaos with hope for new beginnings rising out of the mess. Sometimes this is what we all need most: a reminder that from the chaos, God will bring something new and vibrant…
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Instead of Pleading With God, Try This Prayer Posture
Layers of ivory piled heavenward for weeks—the kind of snow that melts and freezes a half-dozen times, leaving crusty layers like some seven-layer dessert gone horribly wrong. I’d been pleading with God to lead me out of a tough stretch. I had no idea he was about to open my eyes with a very clear object lesson in the form of a pleading child. We kept the yellow snow shovel propped right next to the front door that year. Every morning, we scraped the icy cement and threw out the salt. I didn’t appreciate the morning call to shovel the entryway. However, the four-year-old at my side saw it as…
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Passion for God: 8 Ways to Fan the Flame
A thin band of sunlight slips through the window and illuminates a dried bouquet of thistle across the room. Lately, my passion for God seems to be wilting like the dried bouquet. I remember the day we gathered the thistle. It was warm for November, and the threat of the impending months of darkness and snow weighed on me. We went to the fields and gathered thistle, horsetails, and milkweed. We hoped that bringing life inside might somehow lengthen the months when the weather would stop us from wandering through fields of wildflowers. Months later, I gaze at the bouquet as worship music plays. I silently ask God to give…
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5 Tools for the Days When Your Quiet Time With Jesus Is Boring
We’re sitting on my couch when my friend asks a question that no one has ever asked me: “Is your daily quiet time with Jesus bringing you into life-giving encounters with him?” I stare blankly at my friend while the wrens chatter outside the window. Then, I tell her the gut-honest truth: Most days, I’m just checking “quiet time with Jesus” off a list of things to accomplish for the day. It’s one more task on a never-ending list. I wonder if you can relate. Perhaps you want to connect with God in the quiet moments of your days, but you’re distracted, restless, and quite possibly even bored. If you’re like…
