-
How to Let God Lead You When Your Plans Fall Apart
Snow falls like a quiet kind of awakening, and when I listen closely, I can hear the heavy flakes gathering. I stand among the marmalade beech leaves as they cling to finger-like branches, waving at the dusk like these chilling grey days are not only expected but welcomed. Maybe the beech leaves have learned the secret about how to let God lead you when the season doesn’t unfold with the lush vivacity you expected. I stare at them blankly. I’m having a hard time agreeing with their cheerful heavenward waving. Winter drains the life from my veins here in the hills of the northeast. My body craves sunlight in the…
-
How to Be Thankful to God Even When Life Is Hard
It’s a quiet Wednesday evening, and I return home with a truckload of groceries to find an empty house. I have no idea that the evening is about to be a lesson on how to be thankful to God even when life is challenging. After stowing the food in the cupboards, I slip to the deck and discover my family playing in the backyard. They are laughing, wrestling, and chasing the beagles across the wilted wildflower fields. Standing on the deck unnoticed feels like a rare invitation to step back and truly see the big picture of my life from afar. I’m sure other moms can relate: Somehow, the kids…
-
How to Savor Life and Find Deeper Joy in the Ordinary
I take my bike to the open road at the end of a too-long day just to feel the air brush up against my skin. I want the breeze to carry my cares across the hay fields, where they might get lost and tangled in the dormant silage stubble. I’m not pondering how to savor life as I speed down the road; mostly, I’m embracing how good it feels to take a break from the chaos of our energy-filled home. I’m three miles into my 12-mile route when I see it. There’s a balloon flogging in the wind, tied to a small headstone in the little country cemetery. It reads,…
-
When Silence and Solitude Don’t Come Easily
A strong west wind rips across the yard, and the last of the lavender aster petals are finally swept away. I sit by the window, searching for silence and solitude, and the churning of this autumn cold front mirrors the chaos in my mind. I am an introvert, and I find silence and solitude refreshing most of the time; however, this doesn’t mean quieting my soul always comes easily. When Silence and Solitude Are Difficult I am also a do-er, a list-maker, and, sadly, a perfectionist. I used to think perfectionism was a trait to be admired, but time and experience are teaching me that the pursuit of perfection generally…
-
5 Gifts We Find in God’s Presence
The fields behind the house had just turned beige when life suddenly changed. I stared out the window and prayed that God’s presence would bring me comfort through the long months ahead. I knew I had just stepped into a new realm of needing help from God just to get through each hour. The day I stepped into my third nine-month struggle with hyperemesis gravidarum was both beautiful and terrifying. This medical diagnosis is the term used for a severe and debilitating illness that goes along with pregnancy and generally warrants at least partial bed rest and even hospitalization. The first day of illness was beautiful because, for me, a…
-
What to Do When God is Silent in Your Life
Today, I invite you to pause and imagine a discouraged woman who has lost any sense of God’s presence in her life. God is silent in her life; meanwhile, the world around her expects her to be a spiritual leader, mentor, and example. Here are her words: “As for myself, Father, I have nothing to say for the darkness is so dark, the pain is so painful. Sometimes the grip of pain is so great that I can hear my own voice call out—My God, help me. When I help my Sisters draw very close to Jesus—when I teach them to love Him with a deep, devoted, personal love, I…
-
10 Things God Wants You to Know
There are sailboats on the water today, and I know this season won’t last much longer. I remember where I was last season at this time: suffering quietly in what felt like a never-ending valley of despair. Maybe you’ve been here, too. Perhaps you know how it feels to wonder about the things God wants you to know when life is hard, when you can’t hear his voice. Sometimes the quiet valleys of suffering are the most difficult of all. They’re the valleys no one sees, the ones no one understands, or even worse, the ones you’re just expected to endure. Regardless of whether you’re sailing beneath sunny skies or…
-
What to Do When You Hit a Spiritual Slump
Are you stuck in a spiritual slump? Read these words from my recent post at Women Wielding the Word: I remember reading the words on a sun-splattered spring dawn, and I could not honestly say I related. The words went like this: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2 NIV). I want both my heart and my flesh to literally yearn – to hunger – for God, but there are plenty of mornings when I open my Bible with waning enthusiasm. A wise mentor once compared daily Bible reading to a daily bowl…
-
Struggling to Draw Near to God? This Is for You…
The wildflower fields are speckled with the vibrant freckles of black-eyed susans. I stare at the gold flecks and struggle to quiet my racing mind. I’m tired of mindlessly skimming through the Bible and failing to draw near to God in the quiet moments of my morning. I’m pondering a new approach when my 4-year-old shuffles into the room. He takes hold of my hand and pulls me outside to the deck. He points to the fields and says, “Daddy’s out there with the dogs.” I don’t believe him until I hear the howl of our beagle rolling over the wildflowers. It’s Saturday, and I’m glad Darrell is out of…
-
Time With God: Devotional Time Tips for Life’s Busy Seasons
The morning opens wide and foretells the season’s change. I wonder how we keep turning from one season to the next with ever-increasing urgency. Life has been busy and full lately. I’m desperate for some quiet devotional time with God, but I hardly know how to make it happen. I’m watching a V-shaped line of geese flap overhead when I hear my little boy pitter down the steps. He comes into the room and rubs his eyes. His short brown hair stands on end in a playful salute. I’m sure God smiles at sleepy children. “Get me cuppy, Mom,” he demands, and I extend grace about the manners since he’s…
