What I'm Reading
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What is THIS?
Have you ever said that? “What is THIS?” You feel blinded by the situation as though a veil covers your eyes and everything you once saw clearly is dimmed in a strange fog that is your new reality. Something happened that completely took you by surprise. Something that you could’ve NEVER prepared for ahead of time. Something you think is impossible to live through or even figure out how to navigate. I bet you can say yes to that. Probably more than once you’ve felt this way as I have. Maybe so many times you’ve said it that you’ve lost count. If you are like me, your first thought is…
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Being Woman
Often we conjure up certain pictures in our mind of what it means to be a female. Perhaps your mind goes immediately to frills and lace over a dainty girl. That only describes ONE type of female. At times we may think we are “less” than the opposite sex, while others see female as “better”. When we look at God specifically creating male and female in the Old Testament book of Genesis, it’s not about better or less. It’s about completing, not competing. This is true whether you are single or married. Men and women as a whole need each other, often BECAUSE of our differences. One of the things…
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What I’m Reading…In His Image
How often do you look in the mirror daily? Make up, check. Hair, check. Outfit for the day, check. Those are the outward images of who we are. But what about inside? What image are we seeking to mirror? Are we daily reflecting Christ’s image as we walk through our day? One of my favorite Bible teachers and authors is Jen Wilkin. I recently finished her latest book, In His Image, and have been challenged to ask that very question. The introduction got my attention with its title, “Asking the Better Question.” Jen encourages us to stop asking, “What is God’s will for my life” and ask instead, “Who should I be?”…
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Contentment…No Matter What Part 2: Circumstances
Last week we looked at how comparison keeps us from being contented. If you missed it you can read that post here. Today we will look at a second big issue that causes us discontentment: our circumstances. If only…what if…iif I had…if I lived…if I was….THEN I would be content with my life. Have you ever said, “it must be nice…..”? In her book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free, author Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth says we believe this: “If my situation was different, I would be different.” We always seem to be searching for that elusive state of bliss in life. In the scripture we looked at last week in…
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Contentment…No Matter What Part 1: Comparison
How content are you right now? Be honest. Is it even possible to be content no matter what? Can we accept what Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Contentment with godliness is great gain?” Can we really experience contentment in the midst of a relationship crisis, job loss, life threatening health situation, brokenness, betrayal, etc…you fill in the blank with your discontent issue. I believe like me, you may struggle with this, at least occasionally. Perhaps our world would be much more pleasant if we weren’t always striving for something “else”. Let’s define contentment as happiness in one’s life situation and discontentment as craving for what we don’t have. We…
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Retired Together…3 Issues and 7 Tips
Some of you may know I retired in 2017 after 22+ years at LifeWay, serving as the women’s ministry specialist. It was such a surprise and an honor to get to do this ministry. I loved my work and am so grateful for all God taught me. But, my husband and I knew that this was the year to retire. I turned 65 the September prior and God made it clear this was the time. God affirmed this in so many ways the last year I was there and my retirement was such a sweet time of celebration. I wasn’t retiring from ministry, just from serving in the capacity I…
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The Next Step
Are you in a place of struggle today that seems useless and wondering what the next step is? Are you just biding your time, waiting for the next big thing to happen? Are you always looking into the future and forgetting that the sovereign Lord is in charge of your right now as well as your future? I am LOVING Priscilla Shirer’s Bible study, Discerning the Voice of God. Although I did the first version of this study many years ago (and it’s always been one of my favs), this is a subject I need to study again and again. If you’ve never done this study, I HIGHLY recommend it! If you’ve…
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Are You Blooming in Real Life?
One of my daughters has a dry, sarcastic sense of humor and a very quick wit. She always has an immediate thought and quick response to any situation…and yes, sometimes it gets her into trouble. But I’ve laughed with her over her comments a million times and I love it! Maybe that is why I loved reading Kayla Aimee’s new book, In Bloom. Her stories are told with the same type of quick wit and sarcastic humor as my daughter. But another reason I loved this book is how honest Kayla is about life (also like my daughter) and how, in the midst of real life, God wants us to…
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Prayer…a Different Perspective
If you are like me, you have read many books on prayer. Authors like T.W. Hunt, Jennifer Kennedy Dean, Henry Blackaby, Jim Cymbala and so many others have had powerful books published for our spiritual growth. You have probably done Bible studies on the topic of prayer. And if you have been a Christian for a while, you’ve prayed quite a bit. Although Jesus gives His disciples a pattern for prayer in the Gospels (Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4), there is no one way to pray. At different seasons in life and with different needs, we pray as our heart leads us. But one thing is true, we pray differently…
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What’s Your Story?
Anyone ever ask you “what’s your story”? Someone who really wants to know you? How did you answer?…Honestly? Or did you hide behind a mask of who you thought they wanted to hear? Often, we just say lighthearted surface-y type of things about ourself. Maybe we even hide big parts of our lives that are embarrassing, shameful or sinful. We don’t want others to know those parts…because if they do, they won’t think well of us. There are parts of my life that aren’t fun or flowery. They were harder than I ever thought possible to live through. They were hard enough to cause doubt that God could ever bring…
