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Following God Wholeheartedly When You Feel Unappreciated
A friend sends a message about walls closing in, sick kids, feeling underappreciated, and how in the world she’s going to make it through this never-ending season. I tell her I understand. It’s been a long season in this house, too. In times like these, following God wholeheartedly in the unseen work of life feels grueling. For me, the calling throughout the past seven months has been to lie on the couch and survive the lingering illness that accompanies my pregnancies. I’ve been called to be still, hydrate, and try to somehow keep pressing on. Sometimes, the calling of a season feels so much like a quiet kind of death…
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3 Questions to Help You Find Your Calling in Life
Have you been trying to find your calling in life and coming up empty? You’re in the right place. Let’s jump right in and talk about how to find our God-given callings. How to Find Your Calling in Life I remember where I was the moment I decided I wanted to be a teacher. It was my junior year of high school, and I was sitting on a grassy hill watching mist ascend over viridescent fields. It was my favorite season of the year, the season that seemed to awaken every part of me, track and field season. Sitting on the wet earth, I searched my life for the places…
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10 Bible Verses About the Beauty of Nature
The hills are lavender today. I drove to the lake to sit on the shore where the water laps against sand-colored stones, and the time outside renewed my soul. Spending time in nature is restorative. Let’s take just a few moments to turn to God’s Word as we study 10 Bible verses about the beauty of nature today. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook about slowing down to enjoy God’s gifts. 10 Bible Verses About the Beauty of Nature Nature calls us away from the fast-paced lives most of us have learned to accept. Wild places create space for slowing down,…
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10 Biblical Affirmations for Kids of All Ages
Not long ago, our family shared a moment that reminded me of the importance of speaking biblical affirmations over our kids. Join us in the backyard, and we’ll talk about teaching our kids to stand on their identities in Christ. Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for three devotional books to affirm your children’s identities in Christ. Biblical Affirmations for Your Kids I wasn’t thinking about developing our daughter’s identity in Christ when it happened. It was a balmy August evening, and rays of sinking sun shone white on the lawn as we finished dinner on the deck. My husband Darrell offered to take the kids…
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How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids (Do This Instead)
Not long ago, I decided I was done yelling at my kids. Ten minutes after I made my commitment, someone dumped a whole box of Lucky Charms on the kitchen floor in an attempt to pick out the marshmallows. If you can relate—if you want to learn how to stop yelling at your kids and feel like you’re failing— you’re in the right place. How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids Most of us want to parent with love and gentleness, but it’s so much easier said than done. The other day, my sweet daughter offered me a powerful example of what to do when I feel like yelling. Her…
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How to Get Out of a Rut in Life: 4 Ways
I’m sitting along the creek, pondering how to get out of a rut in life, on a cloudy spring afternoon. I feel divided between life as a mother, a wife, a friend, a Bible study leader, a writer, and more. I am weary, and I’m not sure I’m doing a good job in any area of my life. Gazing at the creek, I remember the truth: Before I am a wife, a mother, a friend, or a writer, I am a child of God. I belong to Jesus, and he belongs to me, and this is what matters most in life. I chew on the words and gaze at a…
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4 Ways to Discover Your Calling in Life
Have you been thinking about how to discover your calling in life? Most of us take a hard look at the idea of a calling at some point in our lives. Then we devise elaborate plans about which colleges will receive our applications, where we’ll find work, or how we’ll chase down our dreams. What if we have it all wrong? What if a calling isn’t about a job or degree? What if our callings are for today? You Discover Your Calling by Beginning Right Here Could it be that my calling is for today, not just for the future? The Bible makes it clear that planning is wise, but…
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Encouragement for Tired Moms: 5 Ways to Add Joy to Your Life
I discovered a meatball under the china cabinet this morning. Suffice it to say, this wouldn’t be a huge deal if we’d dated meatballs in the past few days; however, we haven’t had meatballs for at least two weeks. We haven’t had meatballs for two weeks. As I scrubbed the floor, I felt compelled to offer a few words of encouragement for tired moms everywhere. Ten years ago, I spent my days teaching students with disabilities inside the walls of a respected high school. Each new day brought new challenges and changes in my schedule. During those years, my husband and I traveled overseas often. For fun, we regularly took…
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Discover These Gifts by Slowing Down in Life
I asked Caleb what he wanted to do for his third birthday, and he wanted hot dogs and marshmallows for breakfast and a trip to the sandy beach. He settled for powdered doughnuts for breakfast, but I came through on the trip to the sandy beach. Slowing down in life, for even a day, felt like its own kind of gift. The sandy beach is the name the kids have affectionately labeled a stretch of sandy shoreline along the creek behind our house. We’ve been known to catch bluegills and crayfish in the shallow part of the pool, and surrounded by wilderness, the sandy beach feels like an escape to…
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10 Encouraging Bible Verses for Struggling Moms
As I sit to write these words to you, there’s a pile of luggage at the bottom of our stairwell. It’s an array of minion-decorated backpacks, colorful duffel bags, and pink handbags adorned with flowers and fairies. Looking at it makes me feel overwhelmed. I share this with you before I share today’s Bible verses for struggling moms because I want you to know that I have walked in your shoes, friend. I have endured months of sleeplessness with infants who refused to sleep. The demands of motherhood have worn me thin, and I’ve locked myself in the bathroom while little fingers wiggled under the door. Bible Verses for Struggling…
