Love and encouragement from an imperfect mom and her fun teen daughters. We welcome you to live life with us.
Having felt close to God before, I thought my busy life, as a new mom (of two year olds at that time) had come between God and my love for him. I told God I wanted to bathe in his love, and I tried to seek him, still thinking my busyness was at fault for … Read more Hiding from Love?
In last week’s post, “When Christian Phrases Seem Meaningless,” I mentioned my inability to apply the phrase “Keep your eyes on Jesus,” because I had not grieved and released my sorrows and traumas. Pain blocked my ability to fully embrace this idea of “keeping my eyes on Jesus.” I did not realize I was allowed … Read more Scripture Gives Permission
Long ago, I pretended to understand people who reassuringly said, “Keep your eyes on God (or on Jesus or on The Father).” But when I struggled with problems, I had no idea how I could keep my eyes on Jesus. Yes, I knew he was required to love me (I did not even understand that … Read more When Christian Phrases Seem Meaningless
Last week I mentioned seeming contradictions, in the glimpses of heaven we find when we humble ourselves and then feel God’s peace. The discrepancy comes when we experience turmoil rather than peace, yet we are not sinning. We see this in sinless Jesus who fought evil, and grieved over sin. His most intense time of … Read more Glimpses of Heaven While Fighting on Earth
Sometimes Humility challenges most of us, because we assume it forces us to give up our rights, peace and honor. I often grit my teeth when I think of showing kindness to those who malign me. I think of verses like 1 Peter 3:8-9, “Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with … Read more Childlike Bliss in Humility…
Paul said he rejoiced in his suffering, yet when I got bad news last week, I did not rejoice, but instead felt frustrated and guilty. God does not want us to ignore our frustrations but after we feel them, God can help us to look at what he is doing, especially when we do not … Read more Rejoice in Suffering?
Sometimes we perceive people are complaining, and we want to solve their problems or scold them. What if they actually want us to hear their pain and offer them glimpses of comfort? We need to discern whether people are mindlessly grumbling or if they are truly hurting. Even when we cannot solve their problems, if … Read more Hear Their Pain
Fight with Diligence If your life is hard, don’t let Satan trick you into thinking you are powerless to make lasting changes. Your prayers can impact your own life (and help to calm your anxious thoughts) and help others, if you fight while using prayer. Please don’t let Satan or your flesh coax you to … Read more Prayer is War:
Finally, I offer the second part of my series about Satan’s deception using our feelings… Thanks for waiting while I interrupted the series to write “No Peace for Christmas?” (if you missed it, that was last week’s post.) In the earlier post, I talked about intrusive memories where I thought I needed to understand why … Read more From Caution to Peace, Dealing with our Feelings
This week I am pausing my series about Satan’s tricky, intrusive memories so I can address a huge complaint atheists have about God’s promise for peace. This week a pastor spoke about a university professor, an atheist, who said he could not believe in God, because he felt God had failed to keep his Christmas … Read more No Peace on Earth this Christmas?