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How to Love Your Life: 4 Practical Ways to Cultivate Joy
I’ve been watching the yellow poplar leaves grow on the tree beside our deck this spring. Their tiny faces glanced at me through the finger-smeared glass the day I turned the calendar to May, and they were about to teach me a lesson on how to love your life—even in the most ordinary seasons. On rainy mornings, the tiny leaves grew larger before our eyes. Like watching our children grow taller, we hardly noticed. I was reminded that it’s easy to miss the small spurts of growth if I never slow down enough to notice. However, as I sat at the window, I marveled at the way life emerged from…
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7 Refreshing Bible Verses (and 11 Ways to Be Refreshed)
Yesterday morning, I awoke with a deep desire to go to the woods—to inhale the scent of creek bottom, decomposing maple leaves, and pungent earth. As I sat with my Bible, I was reminded that God wanted to renew my mind with his written Word, and I let the following refreshing Bible verses wash over me. 7 Refreshing Bible Verses 1. Psalm 97:11-12 (NIV) “Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous ones, and praise His holy name.” These words remind us that when we rejoice in the Lord and walk in the light, his presence refreshes us. 2. Psalm 68:9…
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Pursuing God: 15 Ways to Stir Your Longing for Jesus
Last summer, I decided to write our eleven-year-old daughter Bekah a note for each day she would be away at summer camp. After writing a note for each day of the week and tucking them into her backpack, I thought about how excited sweet Bekah would be to read them. I had no idea that the experience was about to become a heartwarming lesson about pursuing God. The day she left for camp, I spotted a stack of envelopes labeled with the days of the week on top of the bookshelf in our hallway. Had she removed my notes from her bag? Looking closer, I realized that I couldn’t have…
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12 Free Online Bible Studies and Devotionals
Instead of my typical devotion, this week’s post is something special. My vision is to provide tools to help you encounter God in your everyday life. For this reason, I have written a collection of free online Bible studies and devotionals to help you draw closer to the Lord. Below, you will find 12 free eBooks to help you connect with God in your daily devotional time, bolster your prayer life, and provide healing in difficult seasons. I pray these words bless you and lead you straight into the arms of our Father! Simply click on any of the links below to receive your free online Bible study or devotional. Free…
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8 Bible Verses About Joy and an Invitation to Encounter God
A fresh blanket of snow found us in the early hours before dawn today. With lanky fingers, she reached down and touched us—wrapped us in an ethereal cloak and spoke of rest. I walked to the window and got lost in the purity of the wild world, and in the process, a spark was ignited in my soul. It felt like a fresh outpouring of joy—joy I’ve been craving for far too long. I pulled out my Bible in search of inspiring Bible verses about joy and started soaking in the words. The excitement of Christmas has passed. Many of us look to the long winter season ahead, and we…
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How to Find Rest in God Amid the Chaos of Your Life
Welcome to our last Friday devotional post from the book Girl to Girl! My 12-year-old daughter Bekah and I are excited to share another post adapted from the book today. We wrote the book with a vision for moms and daughters to read each devotion together, but we invite you to join us even if you aren’t a mother or daughter. If your head is spinning as a result of Christmas preparation today, this is your invitation to slow down for a few short moments and find rest in God. How to Find Rest in God As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. Isaiah 66:14 Mom’s…
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My Favorite Prayer Guide of 2022: Hidden Manna on a Country Road
Cinnamon-colored sycamore leaves fall slowly, surrendering to the earth. I hold one in my hand, and it covers my flesh like a glove. For an instant, my mind drifts away from the problems of work and home. Peace cloaks me, and I think about the book that’s been serving as my prayer guide this autumn. In her new book Hidden Manna on a Country Road: Seeing God’s Daily Provision All Around Us, Sarah Geringer writes: “When I feel the overwhelm of a bigger-than-me situation, I know it’s time to hit the gravel road and pray it out, surrendering it so I can experience God’s peace. I also know that whether…
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A List of Good Habits for Joy and Energy
A pewter sky threatens rain, and I stand at the window as the little one calls from the living room. He wants to know what we’re doing for fun today. I’ve been deliberately turning to my mental list of good habits daily, and I decide on a trip to the woods. “Let’s head to the creek,” I declare, and within minutes, we’re strolling down the road. “Better hurry up. It might rain, Mom,” he urges. “A little rain won’t hurt us,” I tell sweet Aiden. He makes a comment about melting, and we both laugh. Much to our delight, the rain holds off. We spend an hour throwing rocks into…
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God Is Sufficient When You’re Weak, Worn, and Weary
A skirmish of maple leaves flutters to the earth—the color of moonrise on a cloudless night. It’s early in the season for falling leaves, but perhaps these leaves have grown tired from holding on. I’m tired tonight, too. I could use a gentle reminder that God is sufficient to help me in my weak, worn, and weary seasons. I decide to sit beneath the maples with my Bible, and I stumble into these words: “Not that we are adequate in ourselves so as to consider anything as having come from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (1 Corinthians 3:5 NASB). Here in the silence of the words, I’m reminded that God wants me to…
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A Surprising Way to Keep in Step With the Spirit
Every summer, we clean our house by spraying it with a soapy, homemade concoction. Due to a malfunctioning sprayer, we had a hard time reaching the upper story of the house last summer. After volunteering to undertake the task, I had no idea that our moldy siding was about to be a lesson on how to keep in step with the Spirit of the Living God. A Surprising Way to Keep in Step With the Spirit “No problem,” I declared, “We can pop the screens out of the upstairs windows and spray it from inside.” On a blazing hot August afternoon, I stuck my head out my son’s open bedroom…