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How to Grow in Faith: 5 Things You Can’t Take With You on the Journey
I sit beneath a salmon sunset and tell God I want to go deeper with him. A certain pattern of behavior comes to mind, but I dismiss it quickly. I want to learn how to grow in faith, but I’m not willing to let go of the habits holding me back. Maybe you can relate. You know how it feels to ask God what he wants you to surrender into his hands, only to butt up against a bad habit you don’t really want to release just yet. I sit with my desires as the coral-streaked sky fades to inky black night. Ultimately, when it’s time to return home and…
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I Don’t Fit in: Insights to Change Your Perspective
A few years ago, I stepped about a million miles out of my comfort zone and attended a conference for women who feel called to write and speak. The weekend was filled with informational seminars, discussion groups, and motivational speakers. I was anxious about the weekend for plenty of reasons, and one of my deepest concerns was a quiet voice that whispered, “What if I don’t fit in?” The fear of not fitting in can feel surprising as an adult. You walk into a crowded room, and you suddenly feel like a middle schooler looking for a place to sit in the school cafeteria. I wrestled through these fears as…
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On Hearing God’s Voice: One Thing God Will Never Say to You
There are hundreds of black flies rising from still water when I hear it. It’s a quiet whisper coming from someplace I can’t quite identify: “You’re not good enough for this.” For a split second, I wonder if I’m hearing God’s voice. I’ve heard this voice dozens of times: When I had that big dream that felt way beyond my reach. When I walked into the middle school cafeteria and couldn’t find a single friend. The day I was asked to stand on a podium and share my heart with an audience. When the superintendent told me I had one week to budget, purchase, curriculum-map, and design an entire classroom…
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When God Closes a Door, Ask Yourself This Question
I sit with a friend and admire the daylilies as they bow low beneath the afternoon sun. I’ve just told her about a recent disappointment, and my heart is heavy. I thought God was leading one way, but the door slammed shut in my face. When God closes a door, it can be hard to know where to turn next. I’m pondering my situation when my friend asks a hard question: “Is there a chance you’re trying to turn stones into bread?” She then shares what she’s been learning about turning stones into bread: Before Jesus began his public ministry, the Holy Spirit called him into the wilderness. Here, Satan…
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How to Change the World From Hidden Places: 5 Bible Verses About Leaving an Impact
Most of us face moments when the monotony of our daily lives wears on us. We wonder if we’re making a difference in the world and doubt God’s calling. We can turn to God’s Word for hope and encouragement in these times. Today, we’ll look at five Bible verses about leaving an impact. 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. 5 Bible Verses About Leaving an Impact I don’t wake up thinking of ways…
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How to be Hospitable Without Being Stressed
Grandma Miles’s house always seemed to smell of molasses, and I still remember the tall jar of hard candy she kept on the shelf by the door. There were always shoes scattered clumsily in the doorway. There were always dishes in the sink, and coffee cups lined the countertop. When I think of how to be hospitable, I think of Grandma Miles. It wasn’t the presentation of perfect baked goods or gourmet coffee that made Grandma’s house the picture of hospitality. It wasn’t the neatness of her shelves or the trendiness of her home décor. What made Grandma’s home the picture of hospitality was the warmth that exuded from the woman…
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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…
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How to Embrace Change: 8 Mindsets to Help You
It happened on a balmy August evening with locusts droning on like a reminder that the earth would keep spinning, even if my world had shifted in an uncomfortable direction. It was time to learn how to embrace change, and it wasn’t going to be a lesson that came easily. We will all face seasons of drastic change in life, and that August evening threw me like few others. In a matter of minutes, every dream I’d been dreaming – every plan I’d been carefully laying down like a piece of some giant puzzle – fell to the wayside, and I was left alone with a radically shifted set of…
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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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The Secret to Having Peace in Life When Your Plate is Full
Autumn tends to be a full season for our family. Every year, this season nudges me to seek a deeper level of peace in life when the demands of my days feel overwhelming. This year, I’ve been shuttling the oldest to cross-country practice, storing vegetables from the garden, writing words, holding things down on the homefront, and fulfilling all the normal requirements that fill our days. Slipping away to the woods, it feels good to pause in the middle of it all. The Secret for Deeper Peace in Life As I quiet my racing mind, I think of a recent study on the book of Exodus. Moses is leading God’s…
