I bought one of these magazines on a whim sometime maybe a year or so ago. They are now my absolute favorite. I find them at Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics. Each magazine focuses on the studios woman create or the products they make. I’ve also started collecting In Her Studio as well. I save these magazines for night time. Right before bed, I read one section. As a creator myself, I love seeing what other women are creating and how they’re creating.
I recently discovered these Bible studies, and I absolutely love them. I’ve done Colossians, Ecclesiastes, and Habakkuk so far and have loved each one.
This is the time of year for colds and sore throats and congestion. We live off of doTERRA Breathe and On Guard this time of year. When I can’t breathe at night, I put these two oils in my diffuser and run it during the night, and we use the roll-ons for everybody before bed. It makes a huge difference.
This spray has been a game changer for us. It helps so much with sore muscles or arthritis-type pain. It also promotes better sleep, and I can tell a huge difference when I put it on at night and when I don’t.
I received steamers from Bath and Body for Christmas and love using them. I use the orange energizing ones in the shower in the mornings when I’m exhausted and need to wake up. Our daughter uses the lavender ones before bed to help her relax. Only a few come in the containers, but we cut them up into smaller pieces so they can last longer.
Javvy has been my coffee of choice for my mornings for several months now. I love iced coffee and make one every single morning…even when it’s really cold out. I hate making iced coffee at home, though, because it’s hard to get it just right. Enter Javvy. I love Javvy because I don’t have to make hot coffee and then add ice. I just add cold concentrate. It’s also really great if your iced coffee sits too long and gets watery. All you have to do is add more concentrate. It works well for me.
This is a new store to me. One of my favorite things about this store is the entire wall of coffee syrups. This is where I got my huge bottle of toasted marshmallow syrup for only ten dollars. Another favorite thing to do from this store is to pick a sauce to try at home. We recently bought a bottle of Korean Chicken sauce to use on our chicken at home. It was delicious! We’ve also used Kewpie Japanese mayo on some dishes and loved that as well. I’m looking forward to going back and getting some other sauces to try.
All of us go through hard times. You may be going through one right now, or you may have just come out of one. It’s so important to have passages of Scripture to read during those times to find encouragement and hope. But sometimes, in the midst of a difficult time, it’s hard to remember or even think about what to read.
So I compiled a list of five passages that can comfort our hearts during a difficult time. Write them down somewhere, so you have them the next time you need them.
1. Habakkuk 3:17-19
Habakkuk is one of those hidden gems in the Bible. The book is only three chapters long and is a dialogue between Habakkuk and God. God tells Habakkuk of the coming fall of Jerusalem, of God’s judgment on his people who have chosen to turn their backs on him. It’s a dark time in Israel’s history, and it’s about to get worse. And yet, chapter three ends in these verses, some of my favorite verses in the Bible. Though everything seems to fall apart, we can still trust in God’s goodness and rejoice.
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
2. Lamentations 3:20-23
Lamentations, most likely written by the prophet Jeremiah, is a book of lament or sorrow, written after the destruction of Jerusalem. Babylon came in and destroyed Jerusalem and carried off the people into captivity in a foreign country. This is the same captivity that Daniel and his friends were taken in. It’s interesting to note that Daniel, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk were all contemporaries.
During this book of lament, we find these amazing verses that have stayed with us thousands of years later. Songs have been written with these words; books, art, home decor, and more all quote these famous verses.
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
3. I Peter 1:4-7
These words found in I Peter give us comfort regarding trials. Sometimes we get lost in the midst of our trials. We can’t see any way out; we feel like God has forgotten us. These words, written by a man who saw his own share of trials and ended up dying for his faith, remind us that there is joy ahead…after the trial.
And we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
4. Psalms 23, 91, 18
When making a list of the most comforting/encouraging passages in the Bible, it’s impossible not to include the Psalms. There are so many amazing Psalms, so many favorites of mine. I picked just a few of my favorites.
23
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
91:1-4
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
18:29-33
In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
5. Job 42:1-5
These verses come at the end of the book of Job. Job has been through incredible testing. He lost all of his children, his wealth, his health, and everything he valued. He’s spend the entire almost forty chapters before this asking God what is going on and trying to understand. When God finally talks, he doesn’t explain anything. Instead, he starts a series of questions, effectively reminding Job of who he is and of his sovereignty. The verses below are Job’s response. Job had heard about God before this, but after his trial, he says that he has now seen God. Sometimes it’s only through the hard times that we actually begin to “see” God for who He is.
Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
The next time you feel yourself feeling discouraged, down, worried, or depressed, choose one of these passages to read. Then add some of your own to the list as well.
Dreaming is an amazing thing; hope is something that gives our soul reason to breathe. God gives us this ability to dream and to see things that aren’t right now. But it’s often hard to see into the future; it’s hard to see what hasn’t already happened. So, how do we create these dreams? Where do we begin?
First, you have to look at what God’s already given you and go from there. God only works with what we have. Not money we don’t own, a talent we haven’t developed, a building we don’t have. Rather, God works with what you already have.
What is in your hand?
In the book of 2 Kings, a widow sets out to find Elisha. Her husband had been a prophet and served with Elisha. But after he passes, creditors come to take her sons away. She needs money, and she needs it now. So she turns to the prophet Elisha.
Elisha doesn’t panic. He simply asks two questions. “What can I do to help?” and “What do you have in the house?”
It’s the second question that captures my attention. He didn’t come up with a bunch of different ways to make money; he didn’t give her ten ideas to try. He asked her simply, “What do you already have?”
What Do You Already Have?
The widow doesn’t own much; all she has is a single flask of oil. Elisha nods because that’s enough. He tells her to collect as many jars as she can from her neighbors and then start pouring out the oil into those jars.
This process is interesting:
1. She has to find something she already has.
2. Then she has to do the work of collecting the vessels and talking her neighbors into letting her borrow those vessels and then pouring oil into all those vessels.
3. As she’s doing it, God takes her little and increases it.
How does that process work for us?
The Process
1. We spend the time to find out what we already have. Sometimes, it comes easy; sometimes it takes a little bit more work. Figure out what talents and abilities you have, what passions you have, what things God has already put in your hand.
2. Then get to work. Work hard at whatever God has gifted you with or whatever he has put in your hand.
3. Then watch as God blesses that work and uses it to provide for you as well as others.
What She Already Had
Elijah worked in the parameters of what the woman had. He was able to bless what she had, not something she didn’t possess.
Sometimes, we convince ourselves that God can only bless us when…when we get the money, when we own that building, when we start that career, build that retirement fund, etc. But we often forget that God works with what we already have.
The woman in our story had a little oil and the ability to collect jars from neighbors. For Moses, it was a rod. With David, it was a slingshot. For Samson, it was his strength. For Joshua, it was brilliant mind for battle strategy. The little boy in the New Testament had a lunch.
Small Beginnings
Don’t underestimate what God can do with your life with what you already have; don’t underestimate small beginnings.
Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.
Zachariah 4:10
God can make something out of the little you have when you allow him to. What do you already have?
