Love and encouragement from an imperfect mom and her fun teen daughters. We welcome you to live life with us.
Some topics are heavy like emotional healing or sexual harassment, and these topics are for the older gals.
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?
Reading John chapter 15, I winced as I thought of how God prunes things out of my life. Yet I know God only takes away things that I do not need, even things I call “good.” Let’s look at how God can take away things we want or think we need, yet God is not … Read more God’s Pruning: Giving up the Good to Pursue the Best
You can find someone who can do nearly everything better than you, except the most essential skill: being yourself. No one can do a better job of being you than you. Perhaps you don’t mean much to the world, but you mean the world to your loved ones. Despite all their gifting, the wealthiest, prettiest, … Read more Others can do Everything Better than You? Not Everything!
I have yearned to pray boldly and then go witness boldly like Elijah in Scripture. But sometimes I hit resistance to this goal. During times of joy and peace, I felt powerful in the spirit and prayed for the ability to share the Gospel fearlessly, and then I actually did so! But soon after this … Read more Praying Boldly not Always Speaking Boldly
Satan hates God most of all. He only hate humans because God made us and loves us. While Satan’s main target is God, not us, Satan will target people, especially those who love and serve God. We must realize this truth so we don’t take Satan’s attacks personally nor misdirect our spiritual warfare against the … Read more Satan’s #1 Target? God, Not Us
For a season, consider meditating on Scriptures based upon your pain or trouble, if you are hurting. While we need to read all Scriptures, sometimes we need Scriptures specifically tailored to our spiritual and emotional wounds (Psalm 147:3, “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.”) Specific Scriptures can remind us of God’s … Read more Pursuing Scripture Based upon Your Pain
Others see God in Us. When we hide our weaknesses, we think we look more godly; we actually hide God from others. Satan, pride of the flesh, and false teaching demand we hide our flaws and act stronger than we are, but then we don’t ask God and others for help. Yet when we admit … Read more We Admit our Weakness:
Too many of us have been hurt (abused) in the church, but Jesus did not do it. Many people turn from God and blame him for what unjust, ungodly humans did. I know, because I was harmed in the church and in a Christian mission. I do not blame Jesus, because he did not condone … Read more Hurt by the Church, Not by Jesus
While last week’s post “Same Problem, Different People,” briefly explained why we repeat the same mistakes with different, difficult people, this week we can dig deeper. If we were mistreated in our youth, we may believe lies, based upon that treatment. Then we might attract, even pursue, unkind people who mistreat us, especially if we … Read more Same Problem, Different People, part 2
Some people demand answers for why they have been offended by Christians who mistreated them. Sometimes a Christian did not harm the offended person but wisely stood up to that person’s unreasonable demands. At other times, the victim mistook a fake Christian for a true believer. And sometimes a true believer did hurt the offended … Read more People Offended by Christians