Category Archives: Personal Growth

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12 Ways to Make Easter Special at Home this Year

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Easter looks different this year. It isn’t what any of us planned on, but it’s what we are stuck with. So how can we make the best of it? How can we make Easter special for our family, while stuck at home? Here are 12 ideas.

1. Stick with Tradition.

We can help our kids find joy by doing what we normally do every year. Decorate eggs, have an Easter egg hunt in your yard, make a special lunch, whatever it is your family does every year.

2. Start a New Tradition.

Easter basket
Easter basket we made

This year, since we couldn’t do our Easter egg hunt at church, we decided to take Easter to our church families. We made twenty baskets, loaded our family into the van, and drove around delivering Easter baskets to our church families. We had such a good time, this may become a yearly tradition.

3. FaceTime Family or Friends for an Easter Egg Hunt

Do an egg hunt in your backyard, but FaceTime family members or friends to watch so they can be a part of it. Or change it up for fun. Let your kids hide some eggs and see if their Grandparents or another family member or friend can “find” them by watching from the phone.

4. Make an Easter Candy Trail

Every year, we make candy trails for our kids to follow to find their Easter basket. We make four trails of candy. Each child follows their trail, picking up the candy as they go. At the end of their trail, they find their Easter basket.

5. Easter Basket Ideas for Kids

This is what we are putting in our kids’ baskets this year. It’s different every year. This is all stuff I got from Dollar Tree, except for the books.

  • Flip flops
  • Sunglasses
  • Candy
  • Notepad or journal
  • Egg-shaped sidewalk chalk
  • Stamps
  • Football for Malachi
  • Hula Hoops for the girls (those obviously don’t fit in their baskets)
  • Books: I ordered a book from Amazon for Madison and Malachi and princess sticker books for Macey and Maggie

You can also create a Kids’ Devotional Basket for your kids. We did this two years ago for Easter.

6. Make an Easter Basket for Your Spouse

Parents usually get overlooked at Easter. This year, do something different. Make an Easter basket for your spouse. This is what I am putting in Matt’s Easter basket this year.

  • Snickers eggs
  • Beef jerky
  • Pair of sunglasses
  • A container of Mentos gum
  • A book I ordered on Amazon
  • Other ideas: coffee, summer sausage, a block of cheese, hot sauce, coffee mug or travel mug, pens

7. Easter Crafts

crafts from the dollar store
Easter Crafts from Dollar Tree

Dollar tree has lots of great kits this year for Easter. I snagged egg decorating kits and paint kits. Another easy idea is to get sponges from the dollar store and cut them into the shape of eggs. Kids can use these to sponge paint eggs on paper.

8. Listen to an Audiobook

picture of kids painting
Our kids painting and listening to an audiobook

While my kids painted and decorated eggs, they listened to The Tales of Beatrix Potter. I bought the audio version on Amazon. The first tale is Peter Rabbit. My kids had fun listening while painting, and it kept them from fighting with each other instead.

9. Watch an Easter Movie as a Family

Some families watch The Passion of the Christ; others watch Peter Rabbit. You choose what works for your family. A movie night is always special, especially when you add popcorn.

10. Make a Special Meal

Whether it’s brunch, lunch, or dinner, plan a special meal on Easter. Set a nice table. You can do that with a colored table cloth, Easter paper plates, napkins, and cups. Or put out your fine china- whatever works for you. Make something delicious that will bring the entire family together.

  • Cheesy hashbrown casserole. This is the recipe I use except I don’t put in the cornflakes and I use onion powder instead of chopped onions.
  • Coffee Cake. This is the recipe my mom has used for years and passed on to me. Now I make it all the time for my family.
  • Cinnamon rolls. Feeling really ambitious? Try this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. They take a little bit of time, but they are worth it. I make these each year at Christmas.
  • Make a ham and use this yummy ham glaze. I’ve used this glaze in years past.
  • Melt some chocolate chips and dip strawberries and bananas. My kids love doing this!

11. Listen to Worship Music

Even though we can’t be at church, we can still worship together as a family. Spend time listening to uplifting worship songs as a family sometime this weekend. Here are some of our favorite Easter songs.

12. Do an Easter Devotional Together

easter devotional picured
Matt’s Easter Devotional

My husband, Matt, has written a 30-Day Easter devotional, called Six Days to Sunday. Each day’s reading starts with a fun Easter story and ends with a detailed look at the Easter story. This book is perfect for reading with your kids. You can buy and download the kindle version and have it available right away.

Remember What’s Most Important

Hopefully, this list of ideas will get you started thinking about what you can do to make Easter special. Just remember, making Easter special for your family isn’t about all the stuff you do, it’s about spending quality time together as a family and celebrating Jesus’ love and sacrifice for us. If you remember those two things, your Easter will be perfect.

Being Okay, When Everything is Not Okay

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hand doing the okay sign
photo credit: pixabay

Being okay when everything is not okay sounds impossible. We live in a world where we are taught to look after number one, take care of myself, let others know what I’m feeling, be honest about how I really feel, and so on. So how in the world do we respond to the crisis we are stuck in?

Joseph’s Circumstances

During my morning time, I have been reading in the book of Genesis. I read a verse about Joseph this week that really stood out and started me thinking about this concept of being okay even though everything around us is far from okay.

As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him… Genesis 39:2 MSG

This verse teaches us a really interesting concept. You can be in the midst of a bad situation and things are not okay, but you can be okay. The circumstances around you can be really bad. Joseph was in a bad situation. His brothers sold him as a slave. He has been hired by a man named Potiphar. Now he lives in this man’s house, overseeing the other slaves.

Does Joseph want to be in Egypt? No, of course not. He would rather be home, but this is the situation he is stuck in now. Though he is in the midst of a trial or a bad situation, things are well with him. He knows God is still with him and hasn’t forgotten him.

The head jailer put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners—he ended up managing the whole operation. The head jailer gave Joseph free rein, never even checked on him, because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best. Genesis 39:23 MSG

Joseph ends up in prison for something he didn’t do. Even then, in the midst of terrible circumstances, God is still with him.

The Story Behind “It Is Well With My Soul”

It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around this idea. How is it possible to be in the midst of a difficult circumstance and say things are okay?

I can’t read a verse like this and not think about the story behind the beloved hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul,” by Horatio Spafford. Horatio and his wife Anna lived in the 1800s. They had four girls together. After surviving the Chicago Fire, they decided to take a break and vacation in Europe. Horatio needed to finish up some work, so he sent his wife and four young daughters across the ocean ahead of him. The ship Anna and the girls were on was struck by another vessel and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. Anna survived but their four daughters did not.

Horatio received a telegram from his wife saying, “Saved alone. What shall I do?” After receiving that message, Horatio boarded a ship to go get his wife and bring her home. The captain of the ship called Horatio up to the deck when they passed over the spot where the ship had gone down. Horatio stood at the deck and looked down. It was during those moments that he penned the words to the beloved hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.”

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul

It Is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

I can’t imagine what he must have felt as he stood on the deck of that ship. We can see from his words that God’s grace was with him even in the midst of horrible circumstances. Everything was terribly, terribly wrong, but Horatio could say, “It is well with me.” That’s the best picture we have of understanding God’s peace.

4 Things We Can Do Today for Encouragement

So do we just paste a smile on our face and act like everything is okay, even though it’s not right now? No, but here are some things we can do.

  1. Choose to believe that God has everything in control. We have to make the decision in our hearts to trust God and not panic. He is still in control. We have the choice to trust God today or to live in fear.
  2. Don’t focus on the negativity all around us. Don’t read all the negative posts about coronavirus on Facebook. Maybe skip the news and press conferences for a few days. Constantly feeding ourselves with information about something we can do nothing about doesn’t help bring peace.
  3. Find something positive to focus on during this time. Read a good book, listen to encouraging music, watch an uplifting movie as a family, start a new Bible study, take an online class, facetime with friends and family, send a note of encouragement to someone, try a new recipe, whatever brings life to you.
  4. My last and best tip is to spend time with God each morning. If you want to stay grounded during this time, develop a morning time routine of prayer, Bible reading, and journaling. If you want help getting a morning routine started, read My Best Tips for an Effective Morning Time.

Four Songs to Encourage Your Heart Today

I love music. Uplifting music is one of the greatest ways to bring peace and encouragement into our daily lives. These four songs have been a great source of encouragement to me during these past few weeks.

Alive and Breathing by Matt Maher

I Know by Big Daddy Weave

The Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman

Sovereign Over Us by Michael W. Smith

Additional Resources

If this has been an encouragement to you, I have several other resources available that will be a help and encouragement during this time.

  1. Alleviate Your Anxiety Devotional. My husband and I created a 10-Day Crisis Devotional. You can’t stop the rain, but you can keep it from falling on your head. Find your way through the anxiety. Focus your thoughts away from worry. Fuel your spirit with hope. You can get this free download HERE.
  2. Journaling Prompts Worksheet One of the best things we can do when going through a difficult season of life is to process our thoughts through journaling. This download includes a journaling worksheet and 12 verses to claim. You can get your free download HERE.
  3. The Hidden Pain: When You Fear God is No Longer Blessing Your Life This is a book I have written and is available on Amazon. What do you do when you feel that God is no longer blessing you? How do you reconcile faith in a God who can meet your needs but doesn’t? The answer isn’t as simple as we try to make it. The Hidden Pain forces us to move past Christian clichés and shallow faith to embrace an unwavering confidence in a God who rarely does what we expect Him to. You can grab your copy HERE.
  4. The Faithfully Stepping Journal. Establishing a good morning time routine is key to making it through difficult times. I use this journal as part of my morning time routine every day. This six-month journal uses an easy format to help you grow in your relationship with God using journaling, bible reading, and prayer time. There are three covers to choose from. You can order one HERE.
  5. Fantasy Fiction Series. Maybe you just need an escape from reality for a little bit. A good book is the perfect escape! My fantasy series might be just the escape you are looking for. You can find those books HERE.

3 Promises You Need to Hear During This Crisis

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picture of mom and daughter
Madison and I

Frustrations and Fears

My eight-year-old, Madison, is usually pretty good about working through her subjects for school independently. This morning, however, was a different story. This morning, Language was her undoing. It wasn’t even that hard of an assignment, but she just couldn’t get it. The frustration came first, then the tears. As soon as I saw the tears, I knew she must be tired. She doesn’t cry that often and usually not over her school.

Matt saw her struggling and asked her to come and sit on his lap. He just held her while he continued working. When she had calmed down, I directed her to the table, where I had paint cards, paints, and paintbrushes set out. We changed up the schedule and got right to painting. Soon Madison was smiling at the table and painting. It wasn’t too long before I heard her giggling. I smiled because I knew she had made it past her crisis of the morning.

With this whole coronavirus deal, I think most of us feel how Madison felt this morning… simply at the end of our rope. We feel pushed past our limits, frustrated, and fearful. If you feel that way, I have good news for you. You’re not alone! Not only do I share those same feelings with you, but Paul totally understood what it felt like to endure hardships. He gives us some encouragement for going through hard times in I Corinthians.

No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it. I Corinthians 10:13 MSG

Paul writes that God has three conditions for His testing and trials in our lives. It’s not just “anything goes.” He has three promises for us when going through a trial. Understanding these three promises help fortify us to stand strong and endure.

1. God promises there is nothing you can go through that somebody else hasn’t already been through.

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. Sometimes that’s frustrating because we want to be different. We want to feel like nobody has ever had it as bad as we have it, but that’s simply not the truth. We have to remind ourselves, somebody has already been through what I am going through.

That can give us incredible encouragement. When Satan tries to discourage you and whispers that you have it worse than anybody else, remind yourself that you don’t. If others have made it through this, then you can too.

A way to get the focus off of your problems is to focus on who you can help, even in the midst of your trial. Who else has it worse than you do right now? I promise, if you look hard enough, you can always find someone who has it worse. Focus on them. Focusing on others in the midst of your own pain is a sure way to be encouraged.

2. God promises you won’t be pushed past what you can handle.

This is so encouraging! God says He won’t let something happen to you that will absolutely crush you. Even though it may feel that way right now, this trial won’t destroy you. God has complete control of your life and circumstances, and he won’t allow that to happen. Paul, of all people, was the best person to hear this from. Paul endured many trials and hardships. If he said God won’t give you more than you can handle, he knows what he’s talking about.

So when you’re tempted to fold under the discouragement and helplessness you feel, when you want to crawl back into bed and not face the pressure and challenges of today, remember this — God has made you strong enough to get through this and whatever else is coming. God said he won’t allow you to be given more than you can handle, and you can take God at His Word. So push away those thoughts and remind yourself that you are strong in Christ.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13 KJV

3. God promises He will walk through this trial with you.

Finally, in the midst of this trial, remember the most important point. God has promised His presence in your trial.

For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5 NLT

Even when it feels that God is the furthest away, know that He is with you. What about when it feels like He isn’t? That’s when faith steps in. It’s easy to forget that it takes faith to live this life. The same faith it took to put your trust in God to save you is the same faith you need to choose to believe He is still with you when you are in the midst of this trial. You have to choose to believe that He will see this through to the end of this.

Journaling Prompts

One of the best things we can do when going through a difficult season of life is to process our thoughts through journaling. I have created a journaling worksheet you can download for free HERE. This download includes a journaling worksheet and 12 verses to claim. I am a huge advocate of journaling! It helps so much to process what you are going through.

If you enjoyed this post, check out last week’s post- Can You Really Find Hope in a Crisis?

Can You Really Find Hope In a Crisis?

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two people in masks sharing a drink during a crisis
photo credit: cottonbro

Whew! What a week! Does this picture say it all or what? As everything seems to be falling apart around us, I just wanted to remind us of three truths that can bring hope during this crisis.

God Hasn’t Forgotten You

I am here to remind you that God hasn’t forgotten you. He sees what your family is going through. Knowing the future, He can see how this loss of income is going to set your family back. He knows that you are fearful for your family member with the weakened immune system.

Remember Hagar, from Genesis? Hagar was Sarah’s servant. When Sarah saw she couldn’t bear any children, she told her husband Abraham to sleep with Hagar. Hagar gets pregnant, and Sarah gets mad. Hagar experiences her own crisis. Sarah sends her out into the desert, and Hagar fears she and her son are going to die there. So Hagar sits down and cries. God comes to Hagar and tells her to go back to Abraham and Sarah. He tells her that He is going to bless her and her son. Hagar responds, “You are the God who sees me.”

She answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! Genesis 16:13 MSG

Hagar was amazed that God saw her in her time of need. El Roi is the Hebrew name for God meaning, “the God who sees me.” In the midst of this crisis, be reminded that God sees you. He hasn’t forgotten you, and He will see you through this difficult time.

God is Still Good

One of my favorite songs right now is I Know by Big Daddy Weave. Here are the words to the chorus.

I know that you are good
I know that you are kind
I know that you are so much more
Than what I leave behind
I know that I am loved
I know that I am safe
Cause even in the fire to live is Christ, to die is gain
I know that you are good

I Know by Big Daddy Weave

The lyrics don’t do it justice. You need to listen to it! When life goes crazy all around us, we are tempted to look around and question God’s goodness. We think thoughts like, “If God were good, He wouldn’t…” Consequently, this just makes us more discouraged. Don’t let your mind go there. Instead, choose to focus on God’s goodness.

An easy way to focus on God’s goodness is to take five minutes each morning in the days and weeks to come to write down three things you are thankful for. After a few days of this, you will begin to remember that God’s goodness is interwoven into every area of our lives.

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 KJV

If we choose not to believe in God’s goodness, we will give up and feel powerless to move forward. We have to focus on God’s goodness. Remind ourselves of who He is, and focus on Him, not our circumstance.

This Will Come to End

The coronavirus crisis won’t last forever. Soon enough, we will be wearing t-shirts that say, “I Survived the Coronavirus of 2020!” Just like everything else in life, this will pass. Peter reminds us of this in I Peter.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: I Peter 1:6 KJV

The three words for a season reminds us that nothing is forever. Trials and hard times come and go. Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes that there is a season and a time for everything. Just as God has gotten you through trials in the past, He will carry you through this crisis.

When we understand that God hasn’t forgotten us, choose to focus on God’s goodness, and remember this won’t last forever, we can find the hope we need to get through this crisis.

Othe Encouragement

If you enjoyed this post, check out my book, The Hidden Pain: When You Fear God Is No Longer Blessing Your Life. This book is an encouragement for anyone going through a difficult season, and that includes all of us right now.

Start Pursuing Your Dream, Part 1

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quote from Walt Disney

A Little Girl’s Dream

As a young girl, I dreamed of being a writer. I loved to read, and I thought it would be so amazing to be an author when I grew up. Then life happened. I grew up. That dream became just a little girl’s dream and I moved on to real life.

Fast forward thirty years later. In the past several years I have really wanted to do something to help bring in an income for our family. I dreamed and journaled and brainstormed what that could look like. I tried my hand at lots of different things. First, I got on a cake and cupcake kick for a little while. I learned how to make fondant and experimented with that. Then I researched gift baskets and how I could make those and sell them. After that, I tried sewing for a while and made bags. I loved them and had fun making them, but it took more time than I had to give. Eventually, I stopped.

My Dream Came True

I started my blog a few years ago. My dream was to have a business with products to sell. I had my blog and wasn’t sure what else to do with it. Somewhere along the way, the dream I had as a little girl made its way back to my thoughts. I started thinking. What if I could write a book? What would that look like? How would I do it? Would anybody buy it? I finally sat down one day and wrote the first chapter.

Last year, I rolled out my first book, Red Rose Rising. I followed that up with a Christian inspirational book, The Hidden Pain. Now in just a few weeks, my third book will roll out. On the one hand, it was amazing because my dreams were coming true. I was finally an author. But can I be honest? It didn’t make things perfect. This is the first of a two-part blog post. In the next post, I will talk about continuing to pursue your dream. It’s awesome to establish your business, create your first product, and make your first sale. But then reality sets in. You have to keep creating. Then you have to figure out sales tax and income tax. You have to put money back into your product or business. You have to deal with people who don’t care for your product. Sometimes, it’s too much and we are tempted to give up on our dream. I will talk about all this in part two.

God’s Gift to Us

I am doing a study in the book of Ecclesiastes right now. Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books in the Bible. These verses stood out to me this week.

After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 MSG

God gives us the ability to work hard and enjoy the profit from our work. It’s His gift. So why shouldn’t we enjoy the work we are doing? God didn’t create us uniquely with a combination of personality, abilities, talents, and interests that are different from anybody else so that we could just show up at work and punch a clock. Nor did He design us to just exist. I believe God gives all of us a dream too big to accomplish on our own. He does that so we are forced to depend on him.

What’s Your Dream?

What dream do you have? Is there something God has laid on your heart to do? Is there something you have always wanted to do? If money and time weren’t a factor, what would you do? What would you create?

God gives each of us a free will. He gifts us with abilities and talents and passions. Why? So that we can use them to glorify Him with what we do or create. If God didn’t want us to be creative, he wouldn’t have given us the abilities he has. If God has given you an ability or talent or a passion to pursue something, it’s not so you can sit back and not use it. God does everything for a reason. If He gave you a talent, he wants you to use it.

Do you feel stuck at your job, frustrated with your life, or just feel like you’re missing something? Maybe it’s time to put your hand to whatever you know God is leading you to do.

If you want to want help discovering your own dream, read my post Six Steps to Finding God’s Purpose for Your Life. Sometimes you just need help to get pointed in the right direction. You can download a worksheet in that post that helps you work through a process to determine how God’s gifted you so that you can find and start pursuing your own dream.

It’s time to start pursuing that dream of yours!

When God Finds Us

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a girl sits alone
photo credit: Brooke Cagle

Almost every morning, Matt gets his Bose speaker and turns it up to play this song as we start our day- Alive and Breathing by Matt Maher. Whenever that song comes on, I start smiling. Here are the words to the chorus.

Joy still comes in the morning
Hope still walks with the hurting
If you’re still alive and breathing
Praise the Lord
Don’t stop dancing and dreaming
There’s still Good News worth repeating
So lift your head and keep singing
Praise the Lord- Matt Maher

The words are such an encouragement and the music is upbeat. It’s the perfect song to start your day with. It puts a smile on my face and reminds me today is a new day. It’s another chance for God to work in my life and in my circumstances.

Where God Finds Us

As I think about those words, I think back to the verses I read in my morning time this week. I read the book of Hosea. Hosea writes a few verses about Jacob, the twin of Esau.

Brought to his knees,

    Jacob wept and prayed.

God found him at Bethel.

    That’s where he spoke with him.

God is God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

    God-Revealed, God-Known. Hosea 12:5 (MSG)

Where did God find Jacob? God found him on his knees weeping and praying. God often meets us in our darkest hours, when we’re brought to our knees. When everything in our life has fallen apart, and fear and desperation drive us to our knees, that ‘s where God finds us.

When God Finds Us

When God found Jacob, He spoke with him and revealed himself. We know the full story. God wrestled with Jacob. Jacob refused to let God go until God blessed him. God will find you in your time of need. He will speak to you, and He will reveal Himself to you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but God will find you and reveal Himself to you. How do I know this? Because that’s what God has done for me time and time again.

How God Finds Us

There are so many different ways God can find us and reveal Himself to us. Here are just a few of the ways God has revealed Himself to me over the years.

  1. Through His Word. God has encouraged my heart innumerable times through reading His Word during my morning time. There have been so many times that I read a verse during my morning time that brings tears to my eyes and reminds me that God loves me and is for me. Read My Best Tips for an Effective Morning Time to get your own morning time started.
  2. In church. So often, God will use the words that Matt says on a Sunday morning to bring a sense of peace and comfort to my heart. He will say a phrase or explain a verse that God knew I needed to hear that day.
  3. Through the words of a book. So often, someone else’s story will remind me of God’s unfailing goodness and faithfulness. Sometimes the book reminds me that I have life so good and reminds me to be thankful for my life, my health, and the blessings around me.
  4. Through a blog post. I subscribe and get lots of emails from bloggers in my inbox. Often God uses the words of a particular blog post to encourage me.
  5. Through a podcast. Many times I have found myself crying while washing the dishes as I listen to a pastor preach or someone tell their story of God’s faithfulness to them during a trial.

**Click HERE for my book, blog, and podcast recommendations**

He Will Find You

In the hardest seasons of my life, I have fallen on my knees and prayed and wept. God has found me there and wrapped his loving arms around me. It may be through His Word, a sermon, a book, a blog post, a podcast, or some other form; but he will find a way to remind me of his goodness and faithfulness.

I don’t know what you are going through today or what may be in your future, but I know that God will come to you when you need Him the most. When you find yourself on your knees weeping and praying, that’s where He will find you. Then He will reveal Himself to you. He will remind you that He loves you and is for you, and He hasn’t forgotten you.

Digging Deep and Developing Grit

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Fourth-Grade Math

My fourth-grade son was sitting next to me at the table today, working on his math. His math for the day wasn’t anything new, it was all review. As he worked hard, he could hear his sisters playing upstairs. They had already gotten their schoolwork done for the day. He was miserable and kept giving me an attitude. I finally set down what I was working on and looked at him. We then had a conversation about grit. I explained to him that sometimes, you just have to push through. You have to dig deep and grind it out until you are done with school. “Just finish,” I told him. Our conversation reminded me of what I had read the last few days in Bible reading for my morning time.

boy doing school at the table
Malachi doing his math

Plenty of Hard Times

In the book of Acts, we read about Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas traveled and taught people about Jesus, that He was indeed the Messiah. They made converts everywhere they went, but they were always careful to fully explain to these converts what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. They told these new believers that anyone who chooses to follow Jesus will go through hard times. Paul says “plenty of hard times.”

After proclaiming the Message in Derbe and establishing a strong core of disciples, they retraced their steps to Lystra, then Iconium, and then Antioch, putting grit in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit, making it clear to them that it wouldn’t be easy: “Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times. Acts 14:21,22 MSG

Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus; Paul chose Silas and, offered up by their friends to the grace of the Master, went to Syria and Cilicia to build up grit in those congregations. Acts 15:41 MSG

The Cost of Following Jesus

Paul understood better than anyone about the cost of following Jesus. He wanted others to know the truth about what they were choosing to do. Why? So they wouldn’t turn their backs on their faith when times got hard. Paul wanted those converts to develop grit. Webster’s dictionary defines grit as “firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger.”

We have lost this part of teaching in our lives as Christians and in our churches today. We quickly forget that God never promised easy. He simply promised his presence. Jesus himself told His followers to pick up their cross daily and follow him.

Developing Grit

Sometimes, it takes good old-fashioned grit to stick with it. It takes determination to show up when we feel unappreciated, to keep loving people when they have hurt us so deeply, to continue ministering when we have been wronged, to serve in a ministry that doesn’t seem to be “successful” to the world’s standards, to love the spouse who is unloving towards us, to comfort the child who has been pushing us away, to love the unloveable people in our lives, to continue to care for someone who is ungrateful, and on and on the list could go. Most times it’s easier to throw in the towel and move on or start over. Find a new job, choose another church to minister in, let that friendship grow dormant, leave the spouse who has hurt us so deeply.

Paul reminds us that this life is going to be full of difficulties, but Jesus gave us help in the form of the Holy Spirit. He didn’t leave us alone to try to make it through this life on our own.

Standing with Heroes

We get knocked to the ground and kicked while we are down. Life comes at us from all directions, and sometimes it just seems like it’s all too much. Satan whispers to us that it’s all because of following Jesus. If we just walked away from our faith, from the person or people who hurt us or chose to no longer minister to others, the pain would go away.

We have to choose to dig in our feet, stand strong, grit our teeth, and say, “I am not quitting. When we do, we align ourselves with some of faith’s greatest heroes. Paul, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Stephen, Noah, Daniel, John, and of course Jesus. That’s a pretty impressive group of people to stand with!

More Encouragement

If you were encouraged reading this post, I wrote a book that talks a lot about this concept. It is called The Hidden Pain: When You Fear God is No Longer Blessing Your Life. It’s available on Amazon. Click HERE to order a copy today. If you do, be sure to let me know what you thought of it. You can also read my post Stick It Out: 3 Daily Choices to Prevent Quitting.

Every Stage of My Life, Planned Out

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God Saw Each and Every Stage

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

    before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 129: 15,16 (MSG)

I read these verses in my morning time this week. I couldn’t stop thinking about them all week. These verses have the potential to change our lives when we realize the amazing concept behind them!

A Beautiful, Full Life

When you were conceived, God saw you growing inside your mother’s belly. Just as you open a book and flip through the pages, God saw every stage of your life play out before Him while you were still in the womb.

God saw the family you would be born into. He saw the school you would attend, the friends you would make. God saw how each and every moment of your life would play out. He saw the choices you would make, both the good and the bad. He saw who would influence and impact your life. He saw if and who you would marry, the kids you would have, the job you would work, the dreams you would dream.

He beamed with intense happiness when you accepted His love and sacrifice for you and smiled when you experienced incredible moments of joy. Then He watched in sorrow as you endured trials and hardships. He saw the events and people that would break your heart. Anger resonated in His chest when He watched Satan twist things in your mind to make you think that He didn’t care and didn’t love you anymore. He watched as every scene of your life unfolded before Him. He thought for a moment. It was an amazing life He had planned for you. Now it was up to you to choose Him and let Him direct you each step of the way. If you did, you would look back on a beautiful, amazing life. Then God smiled and closed the book. Everything was prepared for your life. Now you just had to be born.

Trusting God

When life gets crazy and we can’t see up from down, we can choose to remember these verses. Nothing in your life has taken God by surprise. He saw the stage of life you are in right now when you were still in the womb. Sometimes, we need to just Trust that God Knows What He is Doing and leave our situation in His capable hands.

P.S. I was looking for a baby picture to go with this post and couldn’t find a good stock one I liked. So I chose one of my favorites instead. This picture is from eight years ago when Madison was born.

Boy holding baby
Malachi at eighteen months holding baby Madison

Living Loved

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Eugene Peterson and the Message

A few years ago, Matt and I listened to a podcast interview with Eugene Peterson, who is best known for giving us The Message translation of the Bible. We heard his story of being a pastor and why he translated the Bible into modern language for his people. We loved hearing his story and spent time learning all about the amazing man that he was. Sadly, he died in 2018, but the legacy he has left this world is undeniable. For a while, I have been wanting to get a copy of The Message Bible to be able to study as a part of my morning time. If you want an idea of what my morning time routine looks like, read My Best Tips for an Effective Morning Time.

My Christmas Present

My wish came true. Matt bought me a beautiful purple soft leather Message translation Bible for Christmas. I feel like I have been reading the Bible again for the first time. It’s been a nice change-up in my Bible reading. I have so enjoyed my mornings! I love comparing these new verses with the ones I have been familiar with for years in the King James Version.

My new Bible

Changing my Thinking of God’s Love

This past week, I read a verse that totally changed my thinking about God’s love. I was reading in the book of John. Chapter seventeen records Jesus’ prayer in the garden. He spends the bulk of his prayer praying for the disciples and followers he was leaving behind. The last verse in the chapter really caught my attention. Here is the verse as found in The Message, then in the King James.

I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them. John 17:26 MSG

Isn’t that an amazing verse? Pay close attention to the words I darkened. Remember the context. Jesus is talking to God his Father. Jesus says, “So that your love for me might be in them.” Here is the same verse in the KJV translation.

And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26 KJV

Struggling with the Concept of God’s Love

A lot of us struggle with the concept of God loving us for a myriad of reasons. Maybe we didn’t grow up with a father who was good to us. That gave us a bad picture of our heavenly Father. Maybe we don’t feel worthy of God’s love. We know in our heads that God loves us, but feeling it and believing it in our hearts is a different story.

When we talk about God loving us, we struggle to comprehend and understand it. So then we don’t live our life feeling loved.

When we read in John that God loved his son, we understand that. We can comprehend that. Jesus says to God, “Let the love that you have for me be in them.” That is so much more understandable and relatable. We get that kind of love. It’s a parent’s love for their child. We accept the fact that God loves His Son so much! That same love is the love that is in our hearts as children of God.

Living Loved

That thought makes me lift my head a little higher and puts a smile on my face. It’s an amazing concept! That makes loving other people a little easier too.

When I walked into church this past Sunday, I reminded myself that God’s love for Jesus is the love that’s in my heart. That thought makes it so much easier to open my heart and love other people. When we fully begin to grasp the concept that God’s love for Jesus fills our hearts, we can live knowing we are fully and deeply loved. What does living loved look like practically?

  1. Inviting someone into our home for a meal.
  2. Writing a note of encouragement to someone going through a hard time.
  3. Making a meal for someone who is sick or has been in the hospital.
  4. Taking cookies to our neighbors.
  5. Listening to someone pour out their heart to us.

When we live loved, we no longer worry about doing things because we want a pat on the back or someone to notice us. We simply do it because of the overflowing love found in our own hearts, the love that God has for His Son Jesus.

photo credit: Steve Halama

God’s Gifts at Christmas

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‘Tis the Season

‘Tis the Season… the season where we threaten our kids if they don’t obey, they aren’t getting any presents for Christmas! Ha! Maybe that’s just at our house. The honest truth is, we are going to give presents to our kids, whether they deserve them or not. Sure we threaten them, but when Christmas Day comes, there will be presents under the tree. Why? Because we love our children and want to do good things for them, even if they don’t deserve it.

Jesus Talks about Good Gifts

Jesus was talking to his disciples about prayer, and He talks about them giving gifts to their children.

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13

I love how blunt Jesus is. Remember, He is talking to his disciples, not the Pharisees. Yet he calls his disciples evil! He says even you, who are evil, choose to give good gifts to your children. How much more does your Heavenly Father want to give good gifts to those who ask of Him?

Surprised at God’s Gifts

So many times we don’t expect God to do good things for us. We are surprised when He sends a good gift our way. Why? Probably because we don’t think we deserve it. Yet, God says repeatedly that He loves giving His children gifts.

Sometimes it feels like God isn’t sending any gifts our way. Maybe it’s because we aren’t looking for them or we’re looking for them in the wrong places. We are looking for His gifts in our bank account, at our job, from friends. Maybe He is showering us with gifts, but we are too busy and consumed to notice them.

God’s Gifts All Around Us

God has given us so many good gifts, and Christmas time is a good time to purposefully look for them. When you do, you will see they are all around you.

It’s the family that sits around the table with you on Christmas day. It’s the warm home and bed that you will sleep in tonight. It’s the joy on your kids’ faces on Christmas morning when they open their presents- presents that God provided the money to buy. It’s sipping hot chocolate while looking at Christmas lights. It’s setting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house while Christmas music plays. It’s the joy of seeing friends at the holidays that you haven’t seen in a while. It’s the break from the busyness and stress of work to enjoy time to relax. It’s in reading the Christmas story and being reminded that we have all of this because of a baby in a manger.

Looking at lights as a family…with hot chocolate.

Christmas is full of God’s gifts to us. If you choose to look, you will find them all around you. During this Christmas season, let’s choose to look for these gifts and thank God for them. Enjoy the small blessings of His favor all around you. If you want a great Christmas book to remind you of the wonders of Christmas, grab a copy of Matt’s book Chase the Wonder: Stories of Christmas to Fill Our Hearts with Hope. I am enjoying reading a chapter each morning after I finish my Bible reading and journaling.

If you want some inspiration to create Christmas memories with your family, check out these posts- Family Christmas Series: #1 Reading Basket or Family Christmas Series: #2 Looking at Lights.

Hugs with my son, Malachi.