Spiritual Growth
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What’s On Your Bucket List?
Have you ever made a bucket list? If so, I’d so love to hear what you put on it! One thing I’ve always wanted to do is sky dive, but I’ve yet to! In 2017, I made a Retirement Bucket List. Here’s a few items on that list: -swim with manatees, dolphins, and turtles -visit beaches that have lots of amazing shells in abundance -visit places near by our city here in Tennessee that we’ve not seen -travel to the last 3 states across our nation that I have not visited: West Virginia, Delaware and Connecticut. Can I just say, I traveled A LOT while I was serving women’s leaders…
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If There Is Any Other Way
Sunday morning we celebrated Easter, so in this follow up post, I want to share something I was reminded of a few days before Easter Sunday. As I ponder Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the agony He experienced, I am reminded through the study Navigating Gospel Truth (check last week’s post for more details) of His pain. Author Rebecca McLaughlin took us back to Jeremiah 25:15-29 to show us His agony wasn’t primarily the pain and shame of the cross. That was difficult enough of course! But it was the fact that He would carry the wrath of God for sin so that we don’t have to. This was…
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Behold!
As so often happens by “design providence,” I’m flooded with all things Spring and Easter. I’m soaking up every warm sunny day I can. I wrote about spring last week in Hope that Spring Brings. All I can think is, “Behold Him, the one who became our sacrificial lamb once and for all time.” I just finished reading the gospels with my D-group as we’ve journeyed through the Bible chronologically since January 2023. I’ve also been reading a couple of Easter devotionals. Then a couple of weeks ago, I started the study Navigating Gospel Truth by Rebecca McLaughlin. She does such a great job comparing and contrasting the 4 Gospels…
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The Hope Spring Brings
Wherever you live, do you see it? The green starting to pop out in the trees? The early flowers showing their beauty? I do! I love getting to enjoy my neighbors peach tree each spring without having to take care of it! Spring is absolutely, hands down my favorite season! I cannot tell you what it does to my soul every single spring. In the winter I feel more lethargic, but let the flowers and trees start to wake up, and so do I! My energy finds a whole new level! I hate to say it, but I spend most of the winter waiting for the spring! After multiple losses last…
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Are You Aging Gracefully?
I don’t ever want to get “old” at any age. I’ve had a chance to think about this recently to prepare an article I wrote for LifeWay Women, Tips For Aging Gracefully. Enjoy!
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A Faithful Reflection
I wanted to share this memorial tribute I had the honor of giving recently for a dear friend and ministry partner who walked into the presence of Jesus February 17. This woman truly reflected the image of Christ. One of the greatest gifts God gave me in ministry was Dr. Rhonda Kelley. When none of us knew much about effective women’s ministry, we were asking the questions and looking for others who were seeking answers. Rhonda was one who, very early, asked how do we effectively reach and disciple women for Christ? I found myself in the early 90s, a lay person in my church in East Texas, actually serving on…
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Complete Control
I love studying about God’s sovereignty because it’s truth no matter the situation I’m experiencing. Knowing He is in control over every single thing is where my hope lands, along with His return, and my eternity in His presence. Elizabeth Woodson has put together a wonderful study overviewing the entire Bible in 8 sessions! It’s a wonderful and quick way to get the “whole story.” And it will send you back wanting to learn more about the connections the make up this one story of redemption we see in our Bibles. In the final week we are quickly scanning Revelation and I love what she wrote regarding John’s vision, or…
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A New View
After living 30 years in a 37 year old house, we finally replaced the windows! We have some big windows, which sold me on this house due to all the natural sunlight. But we never realized how cloudy the old ones were until the new windows were installed. The difference is amazing…going from double panes with lots of cross bars in the glass that can’t be cleaned, and needed it, to clear views that look like there is no glass at all. I feel like I can reach out and touch the trees! Because I love being outside and seeing animals behind our house, it feels almost like our den…
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A Rocky 2024?
How’s 2024 so far? Is it what you thought it would be? It has not been for me, in several ways. If you read my posts regularly you’ve seen some of my unexpected experiences. I’ve begun to wonder if this is how it will be all year! But God gave me the song “Good Plans” the first of the year and I decided I’d seek to find the good plan in whatever God allowed this year. I just didn’t think I’d have do it this soon! Instead of dreading what is next, I’m seeking to believe His good plans and ask the Lord what He wants to teach me. What…
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Delayed Gratitude
This week, I want to rejoice in a 3 year delay in celebrating our 50th anniversary on a cruise. We planned this cruise for 2021, but ships weren’t sailing at that time due to COVID. Our 50th was celebrated, just not as we had planned! We actually discovered a new favorite beach on Captiva Island, Florida that year! This year, for our 53rd anniversary, we made the cruise with several of our friends and had the best time. For me anticipation is half the fun! I love to plan ahead and wait for something to happen. But, I must say, the week we were to leave, a major winter storm…
