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6 Great Posts for the New Year
I’ve read so many great posts to help us kick off a new year that I decided to share those this week. No matter what you are facing today, walk into this new year in the power of Christ, trusting Him for everything ahead. 1.Here is a great article about what is on the minds of young adults: THE REAL ISSUE TROUBLING OUR MINDS RIGHT NOW 2.Many of us consider health and exercise at the start of a new year. Here are some helpful tips: HOW TO USE EXERCISE AS ONE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP TOOLS IN 2021 3.LifeWay leaders share their 2021 prayers: PRAYERS FOR THE NEW YEAR 4.Encouragement from…
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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…
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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…
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Behind the Clouds
Years ago I was captivated by how God got my attention one morning as I drove to work in downtown Nashville. Reading Adore by Sara Hagerty I was brought back to that morning as she shared her own cloud story that led her to “adore”. No doubt I’ve written about this experience somewhere in the past, but I couldn’t help but relive, and write about, that morning again after Sara’s reminder! It was such a tough season for many reasons: my mom’s declining mental abilities, heavy work and travel load, family crises all piled up. This was also the week of our annual LifeWay Women’s Leadership Forum, our largest training…
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What’s Your “Go To”?
What is your first “go to” when you struggle? We’ve seen recently what some people go to when they are upset or angry. Violence and hatred brings even more harm to an already unjust situation. But maybe you go to something less harmful like chocolate? Isolation? Running away? Despair? A friend? Usually we all default to something when things do not seem right in our world. As a Type A perfectionist-leaning woman, I think my big default is trying to control the situation. But God has shown me over the years that I am NOT in control even when I think I am, but I can fully trust that in…
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Obedience=Rest
One thing I love about God’s living and active Word (Hebrews 4:12), is the new-ness I experience as I read passages I’ve read so often. and yet, God reveals something deeper that I’ve missed before. This happened, AGAIN, as I was studying Hebrews this time…an amazing book in the Bible that ties the Old Testament to the New Testament like no other! The writer of this book warns against not believing God, not following Him in obedience. Hebrews 3:15-19 says: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses?…
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Why Read the Bible?
Why read the Bible? Primarily, because it’s TRUE! Fully and completely true because it’s God’s Word to the world and to us personally. It’s also how we know God and His redemptive purpose throughout history and forever. And it teaches us how to live. At times, it’s confusing. Other times it’s surprising. It’s convicting. At times, I want to put it down so I do not have to live up to what I read. But when I choose to read, allow it convict me and change me, I am always joy-filled (and so are those around me!), even when it’s hard and I blow it again in an hour! We…
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Do I See?
God is continuing to refine and add to my focus for 2020. One way is through a study by Christine Caine that I just happened to be doing this January. You can read more about my 2020 focus in my first two posts for this year: Focus 2020 and Settle In. It’s both exciting and frightening (in a good way) to see how God is refining and speaking to me in this overall topic of having a heart for Him. In the first day, Christine labels the first week’s study, “When We Feel Hidden in Plain Sight.” She asks if we have ever felt hidden and unseen by others and…
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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…
