Blessings
- Blessings, General, Generations, Leadership Lessons, Lessons, Pandemic, Spiritual Growth, Test, Trial
Pandemic Panic
I recently wrote a post for Revive Our Hearts leadership blog. A Veteran’s Wisdom for Ministry in a Pandemic. I am so grateful for an opportunity to serve women’s leaders, especially as we face ministry challenges in this pandemic confinement. If you are challenged by having to learn new “ways” to connect and serve Christ, please head over to their blog to read! Today, I will link to that here. Leader Connection Blog is a great one to follow! Also, check out their leadership page and ask to join their private group. Here you can see all their women’s leadership resources. P.S. I previously wrote more detail on my technology…
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Peter’s 3’s
Numbers are important in Scripture. The numbers 3, 7, 10 and 12 indicate completeness. Most of us who have read the Gospels, remember the 3 times Peter denied Christ after His arrest, even as Jesus was defending his own identity to the authorities. And this was after Peter swore he would follow Jesus anywhere. Peter told him, “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall away.” (Matthew 26:33) And many of us also remember when Jesus restored Peter on the shore in (John 21:15-19). He asked Peter if he loved him, not once but 3 times. And each time Peter was told to “feed My sheep”.…
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I Fell For It….Again!
What an interesting week this has been…not to mention a challenging one. After staying home, and all services and groups at church being cancelled because of the coronavirus, our discipleship staff began providing podcasts and information on how to get our life groups on line digitally. I decided to use Google Hangouts for my group since I was most familiar with leading meetings using that platform. But after getting my group familiar with that, I discovered it has a limit of 10 participants. Our life group normally has 20-25 attendees on campus weekly. Sooooo…Hangouts won’t work! So, on to plan B! What about Zoom? I’ve used it before for meetings,…
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Focus 2020
This time of year I am always watching for direction from the Lord on a theme or passage of scripture He wants to develop in me for the year ahead. As I was reading and preparing for teaching at an event in 2020, the topic for the weekend grabbed my attention. It’s based on Kay Arthur‘s study, “Lord, Give Me a Heart for You.“ Our key passage for the event is Ezekiel 36:26-27: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause…
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Indescribable Joy
Sometimes during the holidays I really miss not having parents to “go home to”, but I love being the parent my kids and grandkids come to for the holidays. Just once in a while I wish I still had parents too! Our last parent died in 2009, but it was several years before that when we stopped having a parent’s home to return to for family get togethers. So, holidays include both joy and a bit of sadness. Today I read Mark 12:24-25 a new way, “Jesus spoke to them, “Isn’t this the reason why you’re mistaken: you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God? For when they…
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The Silence is Broken Part 2
Last week we looked at how God ended the 400 years of silence. If you missed that post, first read Part 1 here. How did God speak to you last week? Did He reveal something about an issue you’ve been praying about? Did He remind you of something you had stopped praying about and had even maybe forgotten about? Has He been speaking and maybe it was so different from what you expected, you just ignored His words? As I focused on Mary’s response to her Lord, I started thinking: how obedient am I when I hear Him speak? Perhaps I’m finally hearing from God after a long period of…
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The Silence is Broken! Part 1
Each year when I read chronologically through the Bible, the period of 400 years of silence makes me so sad. I’m always so ready to open the New Testament and hear his voice speak again. But I did not have to wait as the Israelites did. The Old Testament ends with Malachi 4:5-6 telling us: “Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” Jesus is that promise of…
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Thankful in Hard Times
I had another post ready to go this week, but decided instead, to share a message I was asked to teach at a women’s event this past Saturday. I realized it was timely for this week of Thanksgiving. I even taught this last minute to my Sunday women’s life group at church the following morning. I’m so grateful I got to share God’s truth alongside my own journey of faith. As I prepared for this message, I had such a sweet time of reflecting on how faithful God has been to me all my life and how much I have to be thankful for. Teachers always learn more than their…
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Embrace God’s Forgiveness
How do you deal with forgiveness? Do you think something you did is just too bad that even God wouldn’t forgive you? This is the second in a four part series on embracing God’s attributes. Read the first post here on God’s love. Forgiveness indicates pardon, absolution, exoneration, clemency, mercy, pity, and lenience. Human forgiveness is often not as generous towards others as God’s is to His children. Proverbs 10:12 reminds us that “Hate stirs up trouble, but love forgives all offenses.” As humans, we often struggle to forgive those who hurt us. This can make it hard to believe God truly forgives our sin. God’s forgiveness is is clear in Romans 5:6-11, “For while…
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No Rest for the Weary?
Ever feel this way? Ever say this in pride? I have and I am wrong. Now, one thing our Yorkie, #MoDawg, (as he’s listed on my social media!) is good at since puppyhood…is rest! He truly needs no help with this. And I could add quite a few more pictures to this post! In fact, every time I talk to him, he yawns just to prove he’s really tired! But humans tend to struggle much more in the area of rest. My pastor shared recently on this topic from his own experience with busyness, even for good things, which led to major health issues. God got his attention and is…
