• General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  What I'm Reading

    Grieving God’s Heart

    Don’t you love it when you hear God speak the same message through different avenues? Perhaps it is in the course of a day, or several days or weeks. But the message recurs in various ways, all leading you to the same principle. Some days, because I study and read several things at the same time, they all seem to point in a particular direction. This happened the day before I wrote this post. I was reading Genesis 6-7 as a part of my Foundations F-260 chronological reading plan. The verse that stood out was Genesis 6:6. After creation, sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were banished from the…

  • Blessings,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    He Is The Light!

    Are you facing darkness right now? Are you struggling to see the light you long for? Even the short winter days can become discouraging, not to mention the year 2020 filled with so much turmoil! Interestingly, the shortest (darkest) day of the year is just a few days before we celebrate Jesus birth! I started O Come O Come Emmanuel, an advent study, right after Thanksgiving. This week the focus was the light Jesus brought to the world. Can you even imagine how dark the world was as God stayed silent for 400 years! Complete darkness! Because of sin. Since the garden, people sinned and couldn’t figure out a way…

  • Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    Sneaky Snakes

    I don’t like snakes. Not any kind. Doesn’t matter if they are poisonous or not. To me a snake is a snake! And I certainly DO NOT want one in my house. When our girls were just babies and my husband Pat was a Texas state trooper, I was home one night, with him on the interstate 20 miles away (and NO  cell phones). The girls were in bed. When I walked into the den, I saw a small worm-like varmint crawl under a chair. My next thought was, “Worms crawl differently than what I saw. That was a snake!” Hysterical (and in my nightie), I climbed on my desk…

  • Lessons,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial,  What I'm Reading

    He’s In Our Boat!

    The banner photo above looks lovely, inviting, serene, peaceful. I would love to be in that boat pictured here. But what about the boats that are in the middle of a storm, waves crashing over the sides? I would volunteer to jump in to the boat for that ride! I recently started the Angie Smith Bible study, Matchless: The Life and Love of Jesus. One of the miracles of Jesus that I studied was one I’m very familiar with. But reading it during the 2020 season we are experiencing, just days after this crazy election, it was a reminder of what I really do know…but needed to consider once more.…

  • General,  Great Blogs,  What I'm Reading

    Even More Blogs!

    I’ve took a bit of a vacation break and have been sharing some wonderful blogs from other writers. Then I took a break from that break to blog on our Hurricane Sally experience. Here is the third in this series, sharing some wonderful and helpful posts. Enjoy these today, as well as these and these that I shared earlier. Wait and See: What My Infertility Taught Me About Faith Having experienced infertility, I can say, yes and amen to this. Leading Better Discussion in a Group that is Meeting Online Articles like this have helped me lead an online life group…something I’d never prepared for! Savannah was in my D-Group…

  • General,  Great Blogs,  What I'm Reading

    More Blogs to Enjoy

    I’ve taken a bit of a vacation break so have been sharing some wonderful blogs of other writers. Enjoy these, as well as these from last week. Leading Well: Plan for a Successful Fall Ministry Season This fall may look different from any other this year. Are you ready? 12 Ice Breakers and Ideas to Shake Up Your Digital Meetings Admit it, Zoom can get old. Try these! Your Mental Health Matters It’s true, this year has been difficult for everyone. How are you doing? Top 10 Worst Zoom Habits. For many of us, Zoom has been a new way to communicate and build community. We could ALL use these…

  • General,  Generations,  Great Blogs,  What I'm Reading

    Blogs to Enjoy

    During September I am taking a little writing vacation, but I want you to keep reading great blog content, so I am going to share some posts I think will be a blessing! Use Care Groups to Stay Connected During COVID-19 Here are some ways to use what you’ve learned during the quarantine that you may continue to use even after the pandemic. 5 Things Younger Leaders Can’t Stand About Older Leaders No matter your age, you are older than someone! It may hurt to hear these, but it never hurts to listen! The 21-Day Invitation: Steps to Reconnect to God We all struggle sometimes in our daily walk with…

  • General,  Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  What I'm Reading

    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…

  • Lessons,  Spiritual Growth,  Test,  Trial

    The Enemy is Alive and Well…But Defeated!

    Even though I am continually aware of the influence of the enemy, along with his temptations, in our world today and I even understand that this is expected, more so as Christ’s return draws nearer…but once in a while, I’ve just had enough! After one evening’s disturbing end that included a crisis, my wakeful night included anger at the enemy…again…and continual prayers for his demise! He’s just so mean and my loathing for him just gets stronger each time I see him at work! The next morning, the Lord, reminded me…again…the devil’s work is temporary and his eternal demise will come one day. It hasn’t been long since I finished…

  • Blessings,  Pandemic,  Spiritual Growth

    The Beauty of His Creation

    If you know me well, or if you follow me (or my daughters) on social media, it doesn’t take long to discover our love for animals. Mine doesn’t include rehabilitating or adopting multitudes of homeless animals like my daughters do, but, none the less, I do love all animals (except for snakes…and that’s biblical, just read Genesis 3). When I was a kid, I would try to pet any animal I could get close to. This led to multiple scratches and bites, including snapping turtle and squirrel! I thought I’d be a vet, but figured out that wouldn’t work since I can’t handle the blood, and the pain of these…