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Taking Time to Notice God is There
As I sat at the drive-thru at a local bank, my eyes began to scan over what lay in front of me. Colorful red berries on the bushes in the landscaping, cars rushing to and fro, the local Post Office, and a gray, almost colorless sky. Then, a solitary cross on the hilltop at a church caught my eye. I rarely look up as I go about my errands on these country roads near my home, so I had forgotten that the cross was even there. As soon as my eyes landed on its commanding presence, so did my heart. For it was then I heard the Lord whisper to…
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Learning to Pray and Believe
Have you ever wrestled with the whole thing called prayer? Have you ever sincerely just wondered how does it work? Maybe you have prayed and prayed for something and find yourself still waiting. Maybe you see “her” prayer answered but not yours, and it has you struggling to understand. Acts 12: 1-17 tells us that while Peter was sleeping in a maximum security prison cell chained between two prison guards, the early church prayed for him. Peter’s situation looked hopeless to change, yet the early church prayed. There was no way out of his sentence. Death was imminent, yet the early church prayed. There was no way of escape,…
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Faith, Speckled Gumballs and Little Red Wagons
Have you ever felt life spinning out of control and find yourself longing to go back to when life was easier? Do you imagine that your life hasn’t turned out like anything you planned for it to be and find that living in new normals has tested your faith and trust in God? Perhaps, we all have those memories we seek out to find comfort. Carefree days remind us of simpler times when life gets hard, and we find it difficult to move forward. So I recently revisited some memories of my own of simple times and simple things like speckled gumballs, little red wagons, and time spent with family. Times,…
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When Prayer Becomes a Struggle
Can I let you in on a little secret that the enemy doesn’t want you to find out? There will be days you won’t feel like praying. Days your heart will struggle to find the words. Other days you will struggle to know what to pray. Your mind will race to figure out the things you need to ask for, forgetting that The Lord already knows. There will be days you will battle the voice that will tell you it doesn’t do you any good to pray at all. Days when your life looks far from the way you had planned. It will make you question His plans as your…
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How Big Assignments Can Leave You Feeling Small
I want this prominent place to serve God until I don’t. Sometimes you get called to the messy job you never asked for. Times when the job you got just feels incredibly too much for you to handle. Some days you want to trade your bigger-than-life assignment in for something a little less challenging or take back that prayer you prayed to get it. Other days if you are going honest, you just want to quit the job you got and don’t do any job at all. Anybody? I’ve spent some time lately trying to talk God into a different assignment. Days when this whole caregiver job makes me feel…