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7 Back-to-School Prayers for the New School Year
A band of blue jays awakens the dawn with a cacophony of cackles. It’s early, and I’m not ready to begin the day. Nevertheless, I brew the coffee and gather the kids for devotions. We talk about going back to school and embracing the last days of summer. We offer our back-to-school prayers and pray for God’s peace to go before us into the new school year. Back-to-School Prayers As I process a dozen different scenarios for what this year might look like, I thank the Lord for going with us. The kids name their greatest fears, and we pray through their fears. Later in the day, I put together…
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How to Love Like Jesus When It Doesn’t Come Easily
A warm wind rustles the maples and sounds like clear water flowing over granite. I’m taken back to a different season. Twenty years ago, God began the deep heart work of teaching me how to love like Jesus, especially when it doesn’t come easily. Working at a summer camp will teach that kind of lesson. God placed me in a quiet canyon where wild Wyoming skies brought adventure on tepid summer afternoons, and campfires beneath the stars on chilling summer nights formed lifelong memories. He placed me among dozens of varied personalities. We melded together like one large, dysfunctional family just trying to keep the peace and keep out of…
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Inspiring Scripture About Serving in Quiet Places
The night before our youngest was born, I took a walk in a thundershower. Something about the way the heavens came pouring out like a flood resonated with the past 40 weeks of my poured-out life. I’d been digging into Scripture about serving in hidden places and clinging to God with all my heart, but I still felt spent. I didn’t really mean to go walking in a storm that night. The radar called for spotty showers. 30 percent. Beneath a thick canopy of maples, the early evening sky looked dusky, even on the brink of Solstice. A low rumble of thunder in the west was the only sign that…
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Balanced Spiritually: The Lie You Might Believe About Balance
This morning, snowflakes waltzed on the trodden lawn like tufts of cotton grass bobbing on a summer morning. I’d been thinking about the importance of being balanced spiritually, and that balance felt lacking. Life has felt ridiculously out of balance this winter. A weekly routine once filled with dozens of gratifying and varied tasks has been replaced by what feels like one all-consuming task that drains me of every ounce of energy. It feels as if the twenty equally filled buckets of my life are suddenly empty, and I’m called to pour my life into one prevailing, overflowing bucket that dominates the realm of my daily existence. Today, we’ll have…
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How to Be a Woman of Influence and Inspiration
I remember the way the sun beams slanted through the maples the afternoon I told my mom I was running away from home. I’m sure I was no older than eight or nine, and Mom calmly looked at me and asked just where I planned to go. “To Grandma’s house!” I told her. I imagined myself traipsing down the road toward that little green house that always offered solace, joy, and a safe place to sit in the presence of a godly woman of influence. Thirty years later, our family mourns as we celebrate Grandma’s life and legacy. Grandma went to be with the Lord last week, and it’s hard…
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15 Scriptures on Connecting With God When Life Is Full
God’s greatest desire is for a relationship with each of his children. He is a personal God, and he created us because he wants to commune with us. Today, we’ll explore a list of Scriptures on connecting with God as we aim to respond to his pursuit. I’ll also share a personal story, including six practical ways to connect with God when life is full. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to help you draw near to God. Scriptures on Connecting With God Let’s see what the Bible has to say as we explore these Scriptures on connecting with God. Scriptures…
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9 Powerful Prayers for Your Inner Circle
I watch our baby boy sleep on the other side of the room while rain streams down the sliding glass door. His eyelids flutter as he dreams, and I ask God to lead me as I aim to pray powerful prayers for this little one’s life. And a vital part of every person’s calling is praying for the people who are closest to us. Today, we’ll explore nine powerful prayers for our inner circles. I’ll also encourage you to find a time of day to devote exclusively to intercessory prayers by guiding you in making a prayer list. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a…
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I Am Tired, God: Encouragement for Exhausting Seasons
The evening sky is graying with dusk, and your feet are weary from a full day of living in the thick of your calling. You’re ready for the needy people to head home so you can do the same—so you can take a long break from life and this world with its incessant demands. “I am tired, God,” you whisper. “Please carry me.” Most of us have been here. It might be the classroom where you invest your time teaching young people. Maybe it’s the house where the children rule the schedule, including when you will eat, sleep, and even shower. Perhaps it’s the quiet cubicle where you spend the…
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When You’re Struggling to Cherish Life
Last week, a friend asked what life’s like with three kids. I told her I hadn’t slept more than one consecutive hour since the newest addition to our family arrived on the scene. I was honest about the chaos and the constantness of this lovely little life we’ve created for ourselves. She smiled and said something about how I should cherish life in this season. She had good intentions. It just felt like she wasn’t hearing me. A day later, standing by the sliding glass door as the lemon-hued petals flutter to the deck, all I can see is a mess that will need to be swept from the muddy…
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7 Replenishing Bible Verses for Tired Parents
Ribbons of sunlight dance through the treetops and a dozen shades of green mingle with the dawn. I gaze out the window with a newborn in my arms. He sleeps soundly for the first time in hours, and I open my Bible in search of encouraging Bible verses for tired parents. 7 Bible Verses for Tired Parents Our third child burst into our lives this week, and it feels like we just stepped from one season to another. The change of trajectory has been stark, to say the least. We have leaped into new routines with a new normal that is full and blessed. Nevertheless, we are tired. As I…
