In the devotional Jesus Calling the November 24th entry says, “Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity. That is why I have instructed you to give thanks for everything. There is an element of mystery in this transaction: You give Me thanks (regardless of your feelings), and I give you Joy (regardless of your circumstances). …
Author: Stephanie
Thinking about holidays, family, and planning
Some of us have a lot of unhelpful thoughts swirling in our head about family and planning and the holidays. Thoughts like, “This is such a mess of a situation.” Or. “It is so difficult to figure out the holidays.” Or. “These people are hard to deal with.” Or. "Why can't we all get along, …
Continue reading Thinking about holidays, family, and planning
Purpose.
Our purpose is not about what we do but about who we are. We choose what we do and hopefully we are loving, kind, gracious, secure, doing it and therefore glorify God. God has filled each of us with purpose, giftedness, talents. As we spend time with Him, reading His word, sitting in His presence, …
Choose love.
What do we often choose instead of love? We choose to be unkind. We choose to be selfish. We choose to judge. We choose to compare. We choose to be bitter, resentful, angry, and any other emotions that do not serve us. When we choose something other than love who feels something other than love …
LOVE.
Love is a skill you learn. Love is a thought, a feeling, an action, and a result. “Love your neighbor (the people in your life: family, friends, strangers) as yourself.” We must know love to offer love. We practice loving. To live a life of unconditional love, we must believe we are loved, know we …
Searching.
I sometimes feel like I am on a constant search to find the “thing” that will make me “better.” We seriously sometimes think there is some thing or some circumstance that will make us better. We think, once I get married, once I have kids, once I get that job, or the promotion, or when …
Practice believing.
We all want someone else to be kind to us, to believe in us, to support us, and encourage us, and tell us we are doing a good job. To include us and make us feel good about ourselves. And that is great if we have it. But I want to ask you, are you …
Emotionally Strong.
I tried Christian counseling in 2016. I wanted answers. I wanted to know what I was doing wrong. I wanted to know what I needed to do to feel better. I quit going after a few months because I felt I was just rehashing my story and getting nowhere. The counselor said, “you have more …
Do you ever have…
Do you ever have those days or those weeks or those months where you just can’t seem to get ahead, or it feels like nothing you do is right, or life just feels overwhelming. Maybe you had a trip or a work thing that threw off your “normal” rhythm and then it seems you just …
Teenagers.
Last weekend, I had the privilege of getting to stay with my teenage niece and nephew while my sister and her husband were out of town. It was a delight to spend a few days with them and observe a small part of their lives. My observations and our conversations caused me to reflect on …
seeking and discovering a better WAY 