We all have thoughts going through our heads and for the longest time I thought I had no control over those thoughts. I thought the thoughts were true. I believed the negative, not beneficial, make me feel bad about myself thoughts. But I have come to realize that our brains make up stories and …
What do you need to grieve? What can you cultivate once you do?
One thing I grieve is the loss of whole family gatherings. I think the holidays can be particularly hard for some people because we can be triggered by our past losses. The sadness resurfaces around holidays or celebrations. The holidays can be a trigger for me because I wanted big family gatherings with my husband …
Continue reading What do you need to grieve? What can you cultivate once you do?
HOPE.
We all want HOPE. We often hope things will get better. We hope someone will get well. We hope to get a job. We hope to meet someone special. We hope our children will grow up strong and healthy. We hope we get a raise or a bonus. We hope we live a good long …
JOY.
As we enter this Christmas holiday season may we remember, The son of God came with angels broadcasting great JOY. (Luke 2:10) Before leaving the world, Jesus said, “…I have spoken to you, that My JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be made full.” John 15:11 Jesus arrives in JOY, departs …
The way things are is how things are supposed to be.
I read in an Advent devotional the line, “The rude awakening that the way things are, is not the way things are supposed to be.” “The way things are, is not the way things are supposed to be.” That is a puzzling statement for me. If I believe in God, God being in control of …
Continue reading The way things are is how things are supposed to be.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
(Several years ago, we did 63 days of prayer at our church. One of the Wednesday evenings, I was asked to speak about prayer of thanksgiving. I decided to share those words with you this Thanksgiving week.) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in …
so.
I’ve been thinking about, and this seems funny to even have to say, but I want to say, “Be kind to yourself. Be a good friend to yourself. Practice self-compassion.” It seems like this should be a no-brainer. Like of course we would be kind to ourselves. But I don’t think we are usually. Like …
stop. start.
It might just be me, my problem/struggle, but I think maybe I am not alone. We tend to beat ourselves up for mistakes no matter how big or small. We tend to ruminate on the thing we said wrong, the thing we forgot to do, the situation we responded poorly towards. As I’ve thought about …
A good stuck.
(This post is based off an email I sent to my book discussion group a few weeks ago.) Do you ever get scriptures stuck in your head? Does God ever use a scripture or a passage of scripture to work on you, like you just keep ruminating on it, stuck thinking about it, gaining more …
faith.
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy," Philippians 1:2-4 I was looking through some old notes and found this from a few years ago… God has …
seeking and discovering a better WAY 