• General,  Great Blogs,  What I'm Reading

    More Blogs to Enjoy

    I’ve taken a bit of a vacation break so have been sharing some wonderful blogs of other writers. Enjoy these, as well as these from last week. Leading Well: Plan for a Successful Fall Ministry Season This fall may look different from any other this year. Are you ready? 12 Ice Breakers and Ideas to Shake Up Your Digital Meetings Admit it, Zoom can get old. Try these! Your Mental Health Matters It’s true, this year has been difficult for everyone. How are you doing? Top 10 Worst Zoom Habits. For many of us, Zoom has been a new way to communicate and build community. We could ALL use these…

  • General,  Generations,  Great Blogs,  What I'm Reading

    Blogs to Enjoy

    During September I am taking a little writing vacation, but I want you to keep reading great blog content, so I am going to share some posts I think will be a blessing! Use Care Groups to Stay Connected During COVID-19 Here are some ways to use what you’ve learned during the quarantine that you may continue to use even after the pandemic. 5 Things Younger Leaders Can’t Stand About Older Leaders No matter your age, you are older than someone! It may hurt to hear these, but it never hurts to listen! The 21-Day Invitation: Steps to Reconnect to God We all struggle sometimes in our daily walk with…

  • General,  Leadership Lessons,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    6 Month Check Up

    In January, I shared what I felt God had laid on my heart for the new year in Focus 2020 , but during the pandemic, the Lord has expanded my focus and built on what He had already been teaching me. These themes were added to my focus this year…prayer, preparing for the return of Jesus, and bolder witness in the mean time. My D-Group finished studying the book of Revelation during the quarantine. Our isolation, along with the culture of our nation in general, made me want to say, Come on back, Lord! But what He said to me was, “not yet, more need to know me.” And as…

  • General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    Created for Purpose

    We are told in Genesis 2 that God formed man from dust…of all things! Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 Later we are told in chapter 2 that He made woman from the man’s rib! So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to…

  • Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    The Enemy is Alive and Well…But Defeated!

    Even though I am continually aware of the influence of the enemy, along with his temptations, in our world today and I even understand that this is expected, more so as Christ’s return draws nearer…but once in a while, I’ve just had enough! After one evening’s disturbing end that included a crisis, my wakeful night included anger at the enemy…again…and continual prayers for his demise! He’s just so mean and my loathing for him just gets stronger each time I see him at work! The next morning, the Lord, reminded me…again…the devil’s work is temporary and his eternal demise will come one day. It hasn’t been long since I finished…

  • Blessings,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test

    Will We Ever Get There?

    Do you remember as a child on a long trip ever asking this question? Didn’t the trip seem endless. You ride and ride and with each hill or corner, there’s still miles of road ahead to drive to get to your destination? As a child, when my family drove to visit family in west Texas, my sister and I used to count water towers! It did help to pass the time! Have you ever asked this same question about the prayers of your heart? When will we get there? To the answer, the resolution, the healing. We ask this about prayers we’ve prayed for YEARS. Sometimes we think the Lord…

  • General,  Pandemic,  Unity,  What I'm Reading

    Good News on Social Media

    I began a social media journey while serving at LifeWay as Women’s Ministry Specialist. Not because I wanted to, but because I HAD to! When I first arrived at this new position in 1994, email was the biggest thing I had to figure out. After 22+ years, technology had progressed in BIG ways! Since my generation wasn’t raised on the technology of today, it was a continual process of learning…often from younger people I worked with! And, it still is today. After retirement, I have continued using social media, sometimes to stay connected and know what my friends and family are up to. Other times it’s to serve the Lord…

  • Blessings,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth

    The Beauty of His Creation

    If you know me well, or if you follow me (or my daughters) on social media, it doesn’t take long to discover our love for animals. Mine doesn’t include rehabilitating or adopting multitudes of homeless animals like my daughters do, but, none the less, I do love all animals (except for snakes…and that’s biblical, just read Genesis 3). When I was a kid, I would try to pet any animal I could get close to. This led to multiple scratches and bites, including snapping turtle and squirrel! I thought I’d be a vet, but figured out that wouldn’t work since I can’t handle the blood, and the pain of these…

  • General,  Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Overwhelmed, But Praying

    You know, some days right now, after receiving another bit of news from a friend or loved one that is painful, sometimes I just want to give up. Right now the things I have on my intercessory prayer list include: a friend who has been in COVID ICU for 7 weeks, a friend whose 50 year marriage is in trouble, a child custody battle, job losses of those I care about, a friend whose husband just died suddenly, family grand-pet having to be put down, a friend with incurable cancer. And then add COVID pandemic, church reopening, politics and other issues in our country, the need for a huge movement…

  • General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Trial,  Waiting,  What I'm Reading

    Are You Listening???

    Do you ever wonder if God hears our cry for Him to do something? Perhap’s it’s been a long season of praying and not seeing any answers. Do you think, maybe He’s not listening, maybe He doesn’t know, maybe He doesn’t want to fix this? I think the real problem isn’t whether or not He hears us, but whether or not, we hear Him. Too often, I just miss His answers, or maybe I’m just not intentionally looking for them. And I too often look only for answers as I want them to appear! Daily we see people listening intently through ear buds of one kind of another. We put…