• Great Blogs,  Leadership Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    Leadership Challenge Blog Share

    As I’ve served in various capacities over the years, mostly in the area of women’s ministry, I’ve wanted to continue to grow as a leader, spiritually, relationally, and practically. Often that has included different types of assessments. Today’s blog share is to help you assess where you are, and see were you need to grow as you lead. And ALL women lead! Check out these posts. 1 Be honest as you read 9 Everyday Situations That Say More About Your Character Than You Think by Carey Neiuwhof. 2 I don’t know about you, but listening is not one of my greater strengths! Check out How To Listen as a Leader…

  • Blessings,  General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    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…

  • General,  Generations,  Leadership Lessons,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Doing Battle

    I’m mad and I’m doing battle! Last weekend I got really ticked at the enemy! I know better. I know his tactics. But sometimes I still fall prey to his lies. Heading out to teach at a weekend women’s retreat I was not at the airport long before seeing my flight was going to be a little delayed. Not a problem, right? I have an hour at my connecting airport to still make it, don’t I? But, this is Atlanta, so, well, hmmmm. When the delay grew, my fear was that there was not another flight into the smaller city where I was to arrive. So, I asked the gate…

  • Lessons,  Trial,  What I'm Reading

    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…

  • Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    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…

  • Blessings,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    When Holidays are Hard

    I decided since the holidays begin in full swing this week, I’d link you to a post I wrote for LifeWay Women, Celebrating Holidays With a Prodigal Child. I pray this ministers to your heart if you are in a difficult season as you face the holidays. God knows your hurt and He knows you hurt. Trust Him as He walks with you through your story. Banner photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

  • Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Feeling Like a Failure?

    How often to you feel like a failure?  Daily? Yearly? Have you ever thought about how God can use our failures to move us forward in Him? Today my daughter Alycia is again blogging for me. I know you will be blessed as she shares her recent feelings of failure. This picture popped up in my TimeHop from 6 years ago and caused a whole slew of emotions. Six years ago I got my first very own horse. Amadeus was a tad nuts and not the right fit, but he started the passion of riding again. I have struggled through the past 6 years of trying to find the right…

  • General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Surrendered, but NOT Defeated!

    I wrote an earlier post on surrendering all we are to Christ. You can read I Surrender here. Today I want to address surrender without defeat. If you are a believer, you should never surrender to defeat! Why? Because as a believer, we are NEVER without hope, no matter what you are facing. Let’s just be honest…life is hard! Sometimes our own decisions cause us difficulty. Sometimes it’s the decisions of others. And often, it’s the work of the enemy whose job is to seek to keep believers living in defeat. Since he cannot change our eternity, he wants to cause us to live as though we have no hope as…

  • General,  Leadership Lessons,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth

    Who’s in the Spotlight?

    Have you ever served Christ in some capacity and it just felt good? Perhaps it was serving in a homeless ministry and you came away feeling blessed yourself. Maybe you helped plan an event for a church gathering and got a few pats on the back and thought, “wow, I might just do this again”? As follower of Christ, we are to serve. In fact we’ve been created to serve. Ephesians 2:10 (which happens to be my life verse) tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (NKJV) But when we begin to feel good…

  • General,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    7 Things to Do When Facing Times of Discontentment

    OK, I hadn’t planned on any more posts on this topic, but you know how it is…God seems to always test me on what I’m teaching and claim to believe. Shouldn’t come as a surprise. That’s what happened right after I spoke on this topic at a church and after I completed this series. If you missed it you can read that series here: part 1, part 2, part 3 and Part 4. The day after I spoke on this topic, I can’t even remember why, but I experienced  discontentment. My thoughts were…”what’s up with this?” and I felt as though God said, “Where is YOUR contentment?” It was a moment to prove what I…