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One Word to Help You Navigate Holiday Sadness
The burning bush blazed crimson, and I vividly remember the year when suffering marked our family’s holiday celebrations. I was alone, ill, and stuck on the couch. For the first time in my life, the joy of the holiday season was replaced by deep and lingering holiday sadness. I didn’t want the lot that had been assigned to me. I had prayed and believed for health, and I’d fallen into a stretch of sickness that was more intense than anything I’d ever experienced. Aside from a short half-hour in the mornings, I was forced to lie completely motionless and drown in my haze of illness. After a month on the…
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9 Bible Verses to Calm Fear and Anxiety
I stare out the window in the early morning hours and pray for my unraveling thoughts to settle. I’ve been fighting fear lately, and I’m losing the battle. This morning, my memorized list of Bible verses to calm fear is far from my mind. I am alone in the darkness. Perhaps you can relate. You want to overcome fear and anxiety with God’s help, but when the darkness creeps in, you often feel alone and forsaken. We face fears about everything from what will happen if the job falls through to what we’ll do if the scan reports a tumor. How do you overcome your fear when the circumstance you…
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A Refiner’s Fire Story and a Prayer for the Fires of Life
The snow outside was knee-deep when I counted the days and realized I hadn’t left the house in 28 days. I was living out my own version of the refiner’s fire story. The refining fire was burning away the dross in my life, and it hurt. I’ll share my story from the fire shortly. First, let’s visit the refiner’s fire story as we consider the various fires we face. The Refiner’s Fire Story The refiner’s fire story shares the story of a group of women who were studying the book of Malachi. They came upon Malachi 3:3, which reads, “He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He…
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To the Mom Who Is Barely Hanging on
I drove past you in the dusky light this evening. You looked like you were barely hanging on. With an infant strapped to your chest, the handle of a stroller in your left hand, and the leash of your small and energetic dog nearly yanking your right shoulder out of the socket, your face said it all. Your face told me that you’re barely hanging on. I wonder if you were stuck in the house all day. Maybe the walls started closing in, and you grew weary from changing diapers and cleaning up the same fifteen toys a dozen times. You were barely hanging on, and you needed some fresh…
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How to Trust God in Hard Times: 4 Ways
The maples were speckled with tangerine hues when the long season began. I didn’t know what the months ahead might hold. I was in the middle of a rugged stretch of roadway, and the tunnel ahead looked long. Where do you turn when the going gets tough and you’re not sure how to trust God in hard times? How to Trust God in Hard Times I was trudging forward on an autumn day, and I stumbled into the following words: “He (Jesus) learned obedience from what he suffered . . .” (Hebrews 5:8 NIV). I stopped in my tracks. I’d never noticed these words, and maybe you haven’t either. Jesus,…
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How to Trust God in Difficult Times: 4 Ways
It’s a bitter winter evening, snow falling like a white veil, when I realize that I need to let myself feel the disappointment I’ve been running from. Not long ago, a dream fell apart, and I decided it would be best to pretend I never cared about the dream. Perhaps facing my true feelings on this brisk winter evening will help me learn how to trust God in difficult times. To be honest, ignoring the pain seemed easier than dealing with disappointment directly. Most of us know all about this kind of false resilience. We say we’re rolling with the punches and bouncing back, but what we’re really doing is…
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Overcome Anxiety With God: 6 Steps to Help You
I sit beneath the hemlocks while my little boy throws rocks into the water. I’m thankful we have a place to slip away from the demands of our days. Today, I’m desperate to overcome anxiety with God in this quiet moment by the water. A question comes to mind as I sit in the silence: Where does my life feel out of control? When I feel like I have a grip on my life, peace reigns. However, when my house is a mess, my schedule is overbooked, my kids are disobeying me, and my career feels uncertain, anxiety creeps in. Not long ago, a friend looked into my eyes and…
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15 Bible Verses About Breakthrough
“I’ve started to wonder if my breakthrough will ever come,” a friend recently remarked. “I’ve done all I know to do, given my best effort, read countless Bible verses about breakthrough, and prayed for months. I feel like God isn’t listening.” We were sitting by the creek on an unseasonably warm autumn day. The firmament hung low and grey, like maybe the underbelly of heaven was brushing against us. “I don’t know why God gave me this dream and then slammed the door closed in my face,” my friend added through tears. I sat with her words and offered her space to be honest about what she felt. We’ll return…
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10 Bible Verses for Burnout (Including Practical Ways to Recover)
Most of us will face burnout. When this happens, God’s Word can help us find refreshment. Today, we’ll explore 10 Bible verses for burnout and explore practical ways to apply these truths to our lives. I invite you to join me as I sit in the forest and reflect on the state of my soul. 10 Bible Verses for Burnout August stretches her long arms toward autumn, and it’s hard to believe these barefoot days will soon be over. Summer is a full season for our family. I often feel stretched too thin by summer’s end. I think of this as I sit by bubbling water and consider how to…
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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…
