After being married for nineteen years, I had to go back to work. I was torn because I couldn't give 100 percent to both callings, and both our home and my career suffered to some extent. I experienced what many of you working mothers have agonized over—the secret, silent bleeding of a working mother's heart, with all the accompanying guilt and exhaustion and divided loyalties.
One night while in the trenches of a lengthy battle with Lyme disease, I sat at home perusing Facebook in an attempt to feel somewhat connected with the world.
In the privacy of the bathroom stall, Jane burst into tears. She wept and wept, wondering why her emotions were so strong. She couldn't help but feel something was deeply wrong. Something beyond her power or ability to fix.
"You need to learn to trust men again." When she said this just moments after I admitted I had been sexually abused as a child by a man I trusted, I got mad . . . really mad! She didn't understand the depth of my fear, disgust, anger, and helplessness. She didn't even acknowledge my emotional scars.
When I see a voicemail on my phone, fear often grips me. I guess I've received one of those "I'm sorry to have to tell you this but . . . phone calls that have turned my world upside down one too many times.
You may be enduring a winter of suffering with no hope for spring. But no matter how you entered this season of adversity, you did not enter it alone and you do not walk it without purpose. You may see adversity as your greatest enemy, but I’m throwing out a different perspective . . .
Life isn't fair. Sin has broken this world and everyone in it. Things are a mess. Fair is no longer an option. Grace, however, is still on the table. And grace trumps fair every time.
Through this precious, twelve-minute movie, you can not only peek inside the Daily's home; you can get to know Paul, Becky, and their five boys. While they're all pretty incredible, one in particular stands out. Titus.
I have come to believe that the basic pattern for change is the same no matter what the habit or addiction: dependence on God, trusting Him for help one day at a time, purposing to avoid the "triggers," adding health-promoting routines, and becoming saturated with the truth of God.
I am one of the non-planners of the world. I convinced myself I was a free spirit--an artiste. I couldn't box my creative self in by something as mundane as plans. I smugly told myself that I didn't need to make plans, because I had faith.
I sat in front of a little girl and her daddy on one of my recent flights. We had been sitting on the tarmac for forty-five minutes when the captain's voiced pierced our collective silence with these words . . .
I don’t hear a lot of “Excellent job with that diaper changing technique, mom,” or “I love the way you scraped the dried milk out of my sippy cups,” or “I really liked your voice inflection the fifth time you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to me today.”
That is the year I came to believe at the core of my being that every event in our lives is being orchestrated by a wise, loving, and good God who really can be trusted.
I'm sure my scream took the phone from her ear. I'd asked for a boy. They'd long wanted a boy and thought their child birthing years were past. A boy. A good gift from the faithful Father. But that wasn't her only news. Pre-cancerous cells on her back.
When love has wept and worked, it must have something to say about God. It doesn’t need to have all the answers. Only God does. But it has the Bible, and the Bible is not silent on this matter.
I wanted to pray but I couldn’t get words past the lump in my throat. I feared for the well-being of my man, I had to care for my two small children, and I was anxious about meeting my deadline.
Does Scripture memory sound like “just another thing to do” on an already overwhelming to-do list? What if you learned it was one of the greatest weapons with which to battle discouragement and depression in your life? Would that pique your interest a bit more?
I’ve been married to a youth pastor for more than ten years. I know all about unrealistic expectations, excess criticism, and the identity crisis that being a family in ministry can cause.
We often sense the Lord’s presence in places of serenity and security.
But what happens when the scenery changes—when the serene and secure
become tumultuous waves of uncertainty, doubt, or fear? When the bills
can’t be paid, or the consequences of sin run deep, or your hopes and
dreams for the future have been shattered?
Meet Stacey Smith and several other prison inmates. You’ll be amazed at
how God can change everything about drug addicts, murderers, those who
want to take their own life, criminals of any kind . . . you, and me!
I started noticing that the incredibly encouraging emails my mom regularly sent me were full of Scripture. They weren’t just hopeful sentiments from a mom, but actual promises from God that gave me something sturdy to cling to.
When Lorna’s husband began drinking heavily, she decided that the answer to her problems was divorcing him. But through an “only God!” encounter, Lorna realized that divorce wasn’t the answer; God was.
If you’d asked 20-year-old Holly Elliff what she was going to do with her life, her answer would’ve been quite different than the way her life actually turned out.
When we take our eyes off all we are not seeing God do, and begin thanking Him and proclaiming His goodness for all we haveseen Him do–our perspective transforms from worry . . . to praise and gratitude!
In this video, Jennifer talks about a darkness we all struggle with—depression. She calls it normal, encourages us not to mask it, and tells us about our God who offers us the grace we need in the darkness.
Worry eats at us. It mires our hearts in apprehension and fear. It saps
our strength and drains our peace. And that worry tempts us to believe
the myth that an uncertain financial future is an unbearable state of
affairs.
A lack of commitment is normal in our society. It's like it’s even expected. Think of how often you hear “no commitment necessary.” Whether it’s a gym membership or an email subscription service, I know that I usually want to know what the terms are for getting out of what I have just signed up for!
One of the most unusual gifts I ever received was an overflowing bowl of cooked-to-perfection chicken feet from my Zambian friends. Gifts certainly come in all shapes and sizes! Philippians 1:29 describes another unusual gift.
When we face difficult circumstances, when we feel like the whole world is against us, or when we've lost the desire to go on, sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is get some sleep.
