• Beach Lessons,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial,  Waiting

    What Do You Do in a Dry Season?

    Ever experienced a long season without answers? Maybe without feeling like you are growing spiritually? Maybe a longtime unanswered prayer? Perhaps you wonder if God is even listening? If you follow this blog often, you, no doubt, are aware that I love the beach. You also may have read my other “beach lessons” posts (check that category if not). And you probably know one of my favorite things to do at the beach is hunt seashells.  But the last couple of years have had very little yield. Today as I walked Johnson Beach looking, again I came away empty. As I write this, I have two friends in very treacherous health…

  • General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Trial

    Wanderer, Come Home!

    Today my daughter is blogging for me again. And as before, this will no doubt speak to a deep place in many of you. Alycia knows this journey and has seen God’s love wash all over her.  All of us have if we are followers of Christ. Our stories are different but our eternity is the same! My hands were full when I tried to quickly shut the backyard gate behind me, but my dog, Walter, was able to quickly squeeze past my legs and he took off into his new-found freedom. I was talking on the phone at the same time and hollered his name. The person on the…

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

    I Remember

    I LOVE this song by Lauren Daigle, Remember. Such a testimony of the faithfulness of who God is and what He has done for us. On this blog site, I have shared previously about how I’ve had quite a bit of history with the Lord (mainly due to my age!). I’ve known Him since I was a pre-teen, but didn’t really know how to GROW in Him as a disciple until I was in my early 20’s and facing my first major life challenge…infertility. It was then I learned to stop seeking MY purpose and to seek HIS purpose for my life. (You can read more in these posts: What’s Your…

  • Blessings,  General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth

    Talent or Spiritual Gift?

    Exodus 31:1-5 shows a beautiful picture of God taking a talent and making it a spiritual gift to be used for His glory: “The Lord also spoke to Moses: “Look, I have appointed by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with God’s Spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and ability in every craft to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut gemstones for mounting, and to carve wood for work in every craft.” Today’s post by my daughter Alycia is her own personal journey in the area of God’s transforming power to take talent and make it a…

  • Beach Lessons,  Blessings,  General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth

    Who Feeds You?

    This year as my husband and I dropped by the office to check in to our condo for our beach vacation, we were greeted by this guy… We wondered if this heron was our welcoming committee!  We inquired about him inside the office since he seemed rather tame, having never moved from his spot even as we walked right by him to enter the realty office. The receptionist said he’s there quite a bit and they’d been feeding him. Ahhhh, now I get it. Kind of like the seagulls on the beach if you throw food to them. They will be back! As always, I’m watching for God’s “beach lessons”…

  • Blessings,  General,  Test,  Trial

    Restoration and Redemption

      Today’s post is written by one of my daughters, Alycia Neighbours, who is blogging for me as we enjoy an extended vacation.  You will be touched by her honesty and willingness to help others as a result of her own journey: The prodigal son had reached such a desperate place of despair, he humbled himself to return to his home hoping to be treated as a slave and therefore better than where he had found himself. The lost lamb finds itself separated from everything familiar due to its wandering and bleats out longing for rescue. I was at my rock bottom. Separated from my family, having no friends and…

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

    Time for a Reassessment?

    Have you ever been moving along, things were going well and you knew you were in the center of God’s will…then for some reason you find yourself totally thinking…”It must be time for a change, this doesn’t feel right anymore.”  I have. Right in the middle of following God’s surprising purpose in my life and ministry. My call didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual pull by the Holy Spirit to grow deeper in Christ, serve Him by serving others and then eventually into vocational ministry for women. Definitely not my plan…not even on my radar. But having felt so blessed and fulfilled to GET to serve Christ and others…

  • 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…

  • General,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    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?”…

  • General,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Contentment..No Matter What Part 4: Transformational Steps

    This is the last of this series on contentment, and can I say that even this weekend, after teaching on this at a women’s event Friday night, I’ve been challenged to stand on what I believe about contentment. You can read part 1, part 2, and part 3 if you missed those. Then come back and let’s get practical! We must remember, we do not have the whole picture..but God does! Paul understood this. He said in  Philippians 4:11-13, “I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do…