Spiritual Growth
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Do You Really Know How to Forgive?
I’ve written on this topic before and you can read Embrace God’s Forgiveness here, but I believe this true life experience written by one of my daughters, Alycia Neighbours (see bio below), will touch you deeply. Our girls get a love for animals from me, except theirs includes menageries of all kinds of animals, while my husband and I are a one dog at a time kind of pet owner! My grand animals have included not only MANY dogs, and a couple of cats, but also bearded dragons, guinea pigs, hamsters, goats, horses, donkeys, pigs, lizards, a snake, and all kinds of fish! Be blessed by reading Alycia’s post and…
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Settle In
I’m not sure how you feel about our country, or our global world, right now. With elections in the future, crime and violence, anger and hatred all over the news and filtering into whatever we watch, read or hear, we could just decide to go live on a tropical island somewhere away from it all! Tempting isn’t it? Definitely for this beach girl. The thing is, God has not put us here to run away. He has placed us here to make a difference. He actually has a plan for us, for our lives and He wants us where He has placed us. I read a post by Noe Garcia…
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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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The Sting of Thorns
Today’s post is written by one of my daughters, Alycia Neighbours (see bio below). She has written a number of posts on my blog and is an amazing writer who shares her journey and her faith with many. I know you will be touched by this message. Chris One of my children is in crisis. Not a “I have nothing to wear to school” crisis, but very serious. I’m currently at a total loss, so I went to the barn because that’s where God will usually meet me and help me sort through the blur of emotions. When I arrived I found my horse covered head to toe in burrs.…
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Impatience in Finding God’s Will
I love discipling Christian young women. They are so hungry to know Jesus and serve Him with their life. They are desperately seeking His calling, His purpose. They want to obey it and start living it out. But one thing I’m seeing as well is that they want that purpose to be clear and immediate. Their whole world is instant so why would understanding God’s will not also be instant? There is an impatience about their finding His will that sometimes leads to not being content, at peace, with where God has them currently. They may even be thinking, as I was in my younger life, that once we find…
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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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Grab It While You Can
During our annual month long beach trip this year we had more cold, stormy, and windy days than normal for this time of year. But the last two days were especially beautiful and sunny. The water finally cleared up so we could see sharks and rays in the water from our balcony. And, as I walked on the beach those days, I could see the shells that were in the water. When there were strong winds blowing, the waves were crashing harder, and, of course, the water was much murkier. I’d not had many days of combing the shallow water for shells this trip, so, even though it was chilly,…
