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30 Days of Reflection | All Points to Jesus
I challenged myself during the month of April to immerse myself in the story of Jesus. I created a reading plan and everything. I wanted to still my mind and prepare my heart for Easter. On April 1st, I began at the beginning and I had no idea all that the Lord would teach me during the 30 day period. As the month progressed, I found myself excited to read the next day’s passage. The Lord began opening my mind and digging out my ears (if you read my reflections on Day 5, you’ll know what I mean). Today, I finished. And you know what made the most impact on…
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When Your Bible Study is on Life Support | How to Fall Back in Love With the Bible
I called this post “When Your Bible Study is on Life Support” but honestly there have been times (more than I’d like to admit) when my Bible study was just plain non-existent. It didn’t come in for oxygen and a IV drip – it flat out coded on the table. Untouched except for Sunday mornings when I remembered to grab it for church, only to scramble a week later trying to find it again. It was usually back on the nightstand, or even worse left in the car. Unnoticed. Unused. Without thought. This is not how fruitful and impassioned followers of God live. This is how haggard and floundering wanderers…
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5 Ways to Prepare Your Heart for Easter {with Reading Calendar}
If you are anything like me, it’s easy to get caught up in the rush of obligations around holidays. I’m already trying to formulate our plan for Easter morning as we head to church and then juggle time with our families. But this year, I want it to be different. I want to focus on the meaning and not just the must-dos. I don’t want to just attend the Good Friday and Easter services at church and then get on with my agenda and schedule. I want to absorb it all. The purpose of it. The pain of it. The relief of it. The meaning of it. I want to press…
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Girl, Jesus is Better
If I’m honest, it’s been a rough week for me. I’ve felt swallowed up by my feelings. And the worst part is – it felt good. It felt good to be angry, it felt good being “justified” in my emotions. Sometimes the hard part isn’t getting out of the pit. Sometimes the hard part is wanting out of the pit. The Lord has been so kind to me in my pursuit of him this year. And yet, sin still rears its ugly head, crouching at the doorstep of our souls. Yet, in the midst of my pride and justifications, my soul whispered: “Is Jesus better?” Is knowing him and being…
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How to Wrestle Well | Asking the Hard Questions
I am so incredibly glad I didn’t commit to reading the Bible through in a year. If that had been my resolution, failure would fall pretty hard right now. I’m not just chapters behind, I’m books. As in plural. As in way behind. But I didn’t commit to reading the Bible through in a year. I resolved to read the Bible. And I have. Not every day, but I always regret it when I don’t. My days feel off and I feel the sledgehammer of self fall hard, and self is an ugly thing. I’ve been sitting in three chapters or so in Genesis for over a week and just…
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Why the Story of Abraham & Issac Isn’t a Barbaric Tale: It’s the Story of Mercy & Freedom
I still remember my mom reading me The Tale of Three Trees. It’s a children’s story about three trees who all had very different dreams. One wanted to hold treasure, the other dreamed of sailing with kings, and the last wanted to be the tallest tree in the forest. As the story continued, I remember leaning in as my mom read, all of their dreams seemed to be shattered. The first tree was turned into a feed box. The second, a little fishing boat. And the third, was just slabs of lumber. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Turns out all of their dreams did come true, just…
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Journaling Bible Giveaway!
Not too long ago my journal pages were filled with questions. I was at a point in my life where I seemed to have every dream fulfilled. I had a husband who loved me, one I prayed so long for. I had a precocious little boy, a child I had prayed so long for. I had a great job that worked with me when I expressed my desire to work part-time. I had it made. All my dreams had come true. And yet, there was this lingering sense of unfulfillment. Such guilt sat with me as I looked at all these precious blessings from God, but satisfaction still evaded me.…
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4 Prayers for Your Child | The Power of a Mom on Her Knees {with free prayer cards}
“Please, Lord, help him sleep through the night. Keep him safe and healthy. Amen” This is the end of the prayer I pray for my son before I lay him down to sleep. I’ve prayed this prayer every single day since he was born. Mostly, I emphasize the “sleep through the night” part and sometimes this is the first of the prayers for the night. Many nights I’d pray this particular part four, five, six times as he’d wake screaming through his first year of life. “Please, Lord, help him sleep through the night. Please, God. I’m so tired.” And yet, this particular night, with his warm body snuggled close,…
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Trailblazing Pioneers | How to Run When You Don’t Feel Like Running
I don’t like to run. I actually hate it. I hate it…with a passion. I overheat easily and my legs get red and itchy. It’s in fact a miserable experience. So when I read any type of metaphor about running in the Bible, I have to disassociate it with my full-hate relationship of running as a choice of exercise. And yet, I couldn’t seem to get Abraham out of my mind. Even after I turned the page on his death. I couldn’t shake the repeated phrases of him running to the visitors in Genesis 18 or how he rose early and saddled his donkey to obey God when God seemed…
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Rouse My Soul | Encounters with God on the Dusty Road
I jolt up out of bed fumbling to turn off the alarm. I woke earlier, but decided to rest my eyes for another fifteen minutes and must have fallen back to sleep. I quietly grab my glasses from the nightstand and slip into dining room. The notebook covered table makes me smile. This is my watch-tower – where I meet the Lord in the mornings. Long before the alarm clock ever goes off, he’s already there warming the chair for me. I squint my eyes against the light and rub the blur away. My eyes may be foggy and I may have had a sluggish start, but as I sit…
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Lessons Learned on Horseback | Stay Close on the Trail of Life
Last summer Hawk and I took a trip out west for our anniversary. We hadn’t ventured far enough away to justify purchasing airline tickets since our honeymoon, so we saved and splurged a bit on a trip to Colorado Springs. As soon as I booked the trip, I started plotting our itinerary. When I discovered we could ride horses through the Garden of the Gods park, I knew it was a “must do.” Horseback riding was a first for us – other than birthday-party pony rides that didn’t really count. When we got to the stable and the instructors did a quick safety briefing, I almost chickened out. There were…
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Where Are Your Feet Taking You?
I get discouraged when I don’t feel like I’m being transformed, even though I’m trying to diligently study God’s word and desire fellowship with him. When I don’t feel different in the sense of experiencing this grand overarching mad-love for Jesus or when I don’t seem to feel him near, I slowly slide into the what-am-I-doing-wrong and why-do-I-feel-this-way mindset. After some time feeling this way, I picked up my pen and wrote in my journal to process my thoughts: I’ve been counting my experiences with God as successful and worth it when I get the supernatural feeling of closeness with him. I’ve been relying on a feeling to dictate whether…
