General

Your Unique “Song”

Your Unique “Song”

As winter has faded into spring, it has brought about one of my all-time favorite moments: hearing the songbirds’ morning songs.  Every year, I am reminded of how much joy these songs bring to me.  I love how some belt out loud calls, while others are quiet, in the background, yet  beautiful.  Some have feverish and fast songs, while others are slow and steady.  Put together, these birds form...

read more
Never Too Late

Never Too Late

The first step in growing is so often found in lowering:  lowering ourselves in recognition that I need help, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know how to respond, and I certainly don’t have it all together. “Lord, how I need You!” Or as Eugene Peterson wrote, “The first step in learning is bowing down to God.”  Think about that as we ask ourselves, “Is that typically MY first step?  To bow down...

read more
Flourishing

Flourishing

Aren’t you so grateful to know that your story is not over?  That regardless of how things appear today, in this moment, you have a God who is in control and working all things out for His glory and your good? I sure am.  And I find such comfort - and hope - in today’s verses: “The godly grow like a palm tree; they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon.  Planted in the Lord’s house, they...

read more
Just Three Words

Just Three Words

“Increase our faith!” the disciples cried, after Jesus’ teaching. “Lord, help me!” begged the Canaanite woman, whose daughter was suffering. “Be our help!” the psalmist exclaimed, when all seemed hopeless. In each scenario, it took just three simple words to move beyond themselves, their sufficiency, or their perspective and reach out to the heart - and for the help - of God. John Bunyan (writer...

read more
Our Confidence

Our Confidence

God with us -  the reason for our confidence God with us is not only the source of our comfort (see previous post) but is also the reason for our confidence. As Moses approached the burning bush (Exodus 3), we read, “The Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering....

read more
Under Construction

Under Construction

Feeling a bit as though you’re under construction? Read on! “I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.”  Philippians 3:12 NLT “Under construction.”  Don’t we get so frustrated and impatient when we enter construction zones?  The lanes...

read more
God’s Presence: Our Comfort

God’s Presence: Our Comfort

God with us - the source of our comfort Is there any story more riveting than that of the life of Joseph?  In his story, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness, sovereignty, and the significance of the presence of God in the life of His child.  His story begins in Genesis 37 and continues through Genesis 50. Within these chapters and as we see his life unfold, what started out as bright and...

read more
Tug of War

Tug of War

Tug of war: the ultimate struggle.  Sometimes situations arise that make us feel like we are in a tug of war match (perhaps even within our own hearts). We battle. We pull. We tug. We feel our feet slip beneath us. We fall short, and then we fall down. If only we didn’t have this weakness... If only our teammate didn’t have that shortcoming... Oh, the struggle it is to get the rope across...

read more