dear-sisters

When Callings Come Through Growth By Shelli Virtue

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 01:37:06 GMT

As young children, we dream about what we want to be when we grow up

Some want to become astronauts, firemen, doctors, or lawyers. Others dream in the world of arts as singers, dancers, or artists. Although I may have had such dreams as a child, the practical side of life always seemed to win for me. My desire heading into high school was to become an anesthesiologist.

However, the pressure I felt in my home church was to attend a small Bible school which didn’t offer such courses. It was more important to focus on getting an MRS degree, and my backup plan was pursuing a teaching degree. A year into my schooling, I knew teaching wasn’t for me. I switched to the backup plan for my backup plan, which was business. It was not at all a love or a desire for me, but at least something I was good at.

Whatever such intentions I may have had for my life were derailed. During my final year of college, I earned my MRS degree, and soon after, became pregnant. Since then, several of our kids have suffered from various types of epilepsy, with one becoming seriously disabled as a result. My calling found me, being the mother and caregiver to our precious, now adult, son. It may prevent me from ever experiencing an empty nest, but whoever said that was a goal to be achieved? As a parent, my natural instinct is to put all else aside in order to care for my children. It just so happens that one of mine will need me by his side for the rest of his life, or mine.

We become so sacrificial in our giving, we often feel there will be no room, space, energy, or time for a calling based on our heart’s desires. I could have thought that one calling in life was enough, but I was inspired by another which has been such a respite for my own soul’s caring. Being a mostly stay-at-home mom, I felt my interpersonal relationships with others were almost non-existent. I wanted to learn how to build sincere, open, considerate, and receptive connections with other people.

I reasoned that because I was going to invest so much time and energy into it, I may as well record it by producing a Bible study that could encourage others as well. My calling to write Bible studies will only end when I choose to stop growing, I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon. I invite others into my growth process.

By becoming vulnerable, my readers experience the times my faith wanes, the times I find healing, and the times I dig deep into what my faith means.

We all experience slips and surges in our faith. Find ways to spur on your calling with the knowledge you gain from painful and joyful life experiences. For the past five or more years, my family has gone through many pains and sorrows. It hurts! It sucks! And, harder still is hearing all the typical platitudes like “you just gotta have faith,” or “look on the bright side,” or “keep your chin up”! We wake each morning with good intentions to work hard, wield kindness and respect, and write messages of love and purpose to those around us.

As we rest our heads on the pillow at night, we replay the day, fretting over unfinished projects, clashes with people, and a pointless pattern of meaningless pursuits.

We desire deep connections and relationships but can’t bridge the gap between good intentions and actions that matter. Our days are tiring, wanting, and unsurprising. Life feels off, ho-hum, and ineffective. However, our hearts, desires, and intentions seem to be in a good place. We can and will step into our callings with confidence and hope as God spurs us on in our pursuits.

Shelli writes thought-provoking life and faith studies based on the Bible. She isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions and is open to the possibility that her beliefs may not always be accurate. Her desire is to improve relationships, the most important thing in the world, by covering topics that challenge and inspire personal growth. She has currently self-published 3 studies on the topics of relationships, humility, and growing through our pain. Her upcoming study reflects on how our good intentions are not always great. And, her newest writing is taking a deep dive into our faith and beliefs. Shelli has been featured in magazines, recorded guest spots on podcasts, and been in the final episode of season 3 of “The Chosen” as an extra. She spends much of her day caring for her disabled adult son, relying on her husband for tech support, and sipping coffee (her predominant love language!).

Worth The Effort By Hannah Rule

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 01:24:37 GMT

It has been over six years since I have had consistent and deep friendships.

While I have life-long friendships that I can call on any day that will be there to support me, I have not been able to be intentional. Any new friendships formed throughout these six years have not had the time or space to grow. This is a season I never saw coming.

In the summer of 2016, I felt the pull to possibly step away from my career as a forensic chemist.I had no idea what God was calling me to, so I reached out to some of my father’s ministry friends for wise counsel. We discussed options of seminary school, ministry career, and counseling career and how I could make any of that happen.

After lots of prayers and seeking wise counsel, it happened! In Spring of 2017, I received a full scholarship to seminary school and had to quit my job in order to fulfill the scholarship. Here I was, moving on from a lifelong career where I met friends that are still close to me today but would not be able to see for months at a time.

I was moving on from stability and a life I was building to an uncertain future. I moved and began the busiest six years of my life. In the past six years, I have become a part-time youth pastor, got engaged, got married, became a chaplain intern, graduated seminary school, lived through the global pandemic riddled with disconnection and loneliness, been rejected from counseling school, moved back to my hometown with my husband, had my spot removed from another counseling school, worked with traumatized foster children, was ordained, was accepted into yet another counseling program, lost the man that was like a second father to me, stepped into a counseling role at work, helped take care of my mother who was recovering from an injury for nearly a year, completed over 700 counseling internship hours, and am now finishing the last three classes for my counseling Master’s degree.

But what about community? Community had become hard to come by. The pandemic caused my time as a youth pastor to come to a close over a Zoom call. We moved back to our hometown but could not visit churches in person.

We also did not want to go back to the churches we grew up in because my husband and I were trying to find a community together where we could grow as a new family. It would be a year and a half after moving until we could visit churches in person. We also had no idea how to find a church because we were both children of church staff and never thought about what church community we would want if we could choose.

We were lonely, anxious, sad, and weighed down by responsibilities and grief. We needed to know we were not alone. We needed connection. I would read multiple books and blogs about the importance of community and even how to find community, but working at the Methodist Children’s Home, being a full-time graduate student, and being newly married gave little time to pursue deep, close friendships.

Finally, my husband and I found a church with an amazing small group called a Missional Community (MC), and we allowed them to pour into us. We did not volunteer for every service and event, and we did not lead every discussion. We soaked in these new friendships and church community and are now beginning to feel loved and supported.

He does not start a good work and then abandon it. He is rooting for you and helping you, calling you blessed and an overcomer. Be faithful. Love those around you. Serve them with joy. Cheer them on. Your seemingly small and insignificant daily offerings will ripple across the pond and become a giant wave of good. Give your most important commodities. Your time. Your attention. Your love.

Despite what it feels like, you will be impacting the world in big, wonderful ways. Ways you can't even begin to imagine. I have been reminded that community is all about being vulnerable and intentional. The Book of Hebrews explains how followers of Christ are to be in community: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

“Community is where humility and glory touch.” - Henri Nouwen. Community is formed through being face-to-face and through loving encouragement. We have to decide to intentionally reach out to someone to grow the relationship. Reaching out to others can be hard. When we reach out we could be afraid that we cannot do it on our own, or that we have to let someone into the hurt we are trying to carry.

For some reason, we have decided that it is weak and wrong to need others, but we were created in community with each other: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone;” Genesis 2:18 ESV And we were created to be in community with God: “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” Genesis 3:8-9 ESV

Our emotions, needs, thoughts, motivations, and intentions were always supposed to be shared with others.Not just existing with others but knowing each other deeply. God created man to walk in the garden with Him and to share the joy and majesty of Creation. God created woman to give relationship and closeness to man. God’s Creation was not just a to-do list in Genesis; God created community.

My husband and I are taking steps to form these friendships. We have had meals with those from our small group. And we have opened up to these new friends about our struggles and worries in order to deepen these relationships and have allowed them to open up to us.

Humanity has been convinced that community will either just happen because of proximity or is not even necessary to live a fulfilling life. Community is the beautiful combination of humility and glory as Henri Nouwen said. We feel pulled to be with others because that is how we were created and how we best live in Creation, but we must be intentional. Are you friendly with someone at church that you would like to get to know more?

Call them. Ask them to lunch. Listen to their story. Is there a coworker you have found that you share things in common? Treat them to coffee before work one day. Ask them about their family. It will feel awkward at first, and you might get turned down multiple times. Keep trying! Community is necessary. Community is worth the effort.

I am currently a Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student working towards becoming a licensed counselor. I received my Master’s of Divinity from Mercer University’s seminary school in 2020 and have worked and served in the church through youth ministry for over 14 years. I am an ordained minister and am currently a Family Coach and Behavioral Aide working with foster children at the Methodist Children’s Home. I live in Macon, GA with my husband of four years, Patrick, and we absolutely love being aunt and uncle to our three nieces and nephew. I am excited to be writing more and hope God uses my words to reach those that need to know they are loved.

Are We Really Connected? By Katrina Bazzoli

melissaheerebout@icloud.com (Melissa Heerebout ) — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 00:10:21 GMT

What does it really mean to be connected?

We are living in an age where we are most likely over-connected. By picking up our phones, we have access to every friend, celebrity, hot topic, and so much more. We can watch someone's life who we have never met but feel so connected to them by watching their life via social media. I love defining words so that we are all on the same page. There are plenty of definitions that pop up when I look up connected.

One definition says, "brought together or into contact so that a real link is established" and another definition says, "associated or related in some respect." When I read these definitions of the word that seems so simple, I can't help but think that one is what our lives as believers should emulate while the other is what we must pray and fight against. It is so easy in the world we live in today to be so connected to many but really connected to none. 'Associated or related… in some respect'.

This is what it sounds like when we're talking about our Facebook mutual friends or even acquaintances that we kind of know. We can live life kind of knowing people, and feel connected, yet not forming deep relationships with those around us. God made us for deep relationships. Not just associated or related but deep relationships. Scripture tells us in many places that we are not supposed to walk this life alone.

To reference a few, 'though many, we form one body (Romans 12:5)', 'the way we love one another will show others Jesus' (John 13:35), 'carry each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2). Listen, I get it. Relationships are messy. It is so much easier to associate yourself with some people on your own time and show them what you want them to see, and that can feel safe. But we often grow the most when we are in deep relationships with others.

No offense, but your algorithms probably won't call you out lovingly in the way those walking closest can. Let's go to the other definition. "Brought together so that a real link is established." When I read this definition, I can't help but think of the Gospel. As sinners, we are able to be in the presence of God. Not a far-off, distant relationship, not a mutual friend, but in an intimate and authentic relationship (link) with the Father- because of what Jesus has done on the cross. I don't know about you, but without deep relationships with people, I would have never heard the gospel.

How will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard (Romans 10:14). Without deep relationships, I wouldn't continue to grow in my faith in the same way compared to if I only listened to sermons online.

What I am not saying is that social media can't be beneficial and useful for the body of Christ- but I am saying that it cannot be our main source of community. As we abide in Christ, walk alongside others in the body, bear each other burdens, laugh and cry together, and there will be moments that hurt. There will be moments where we may want to withdraw and disconnect because it's 'safe', but the Lord did not call us to have a Spirit of fear or timidity but He has given us a spirit of power and love (2 Timothy 1:7).

I'm praying that we don't allow the enemy to make us believe that we are safest when we are alone. Sis- don't go through this life distracted and associated- but form deep relationships that encourage you to love God more and share that love with others.

Katrina Bazzoli is a disciple, wife, mama, & writer. Since becoming a Christian in 2016, she has had a passion for sharing the Gospel in a way that is relatable and understandable to her generation. When Katrina isn't reading or writing, she thoroughly enjoys drinking a good cup of coffee, working out, and hanging out with friends to name a few. Katrina aspires to share the gospel authentically in whatever capacity the Lord provides for her.

My Church Community Helped Me Heal After Infidelity By Heidy De La Cruz

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 00:03:23 GMT

I’ve been married twice, and I’m only thirty.

Going through a divorce is not something I talk about or even write about often. Probably because of the shame that goes with it, and I think more in the church community, which is one of the reasons why it was hard for me to decide to leave my unfaithful first husband.

However, we know that God uses brokenness to heal and glorify His name, which is precisely what I’ve been doing, sharing my story of unfaithfulness, brokenness and building myself up again, all with the help of my church community and God.

In 2015, I found physical proof of what I had suspected for years; my husband was unfaithful. Once I confronted him, he confessed that it wasn’t one woman; it had been multiple throughout years of our marriage. That broke me to pieces. I remember that night like it was yesterday. My stomach was turned upside down, my throat was burning, I felt like I had been punched in the gut repeatedly, and my chest was so tight I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I was filled with rage, yet all I could manage was to lie in the middle of our bedroom floor and weep. We were going to try to make it work. We went to couples therapy, although he didn’t believe in it, and since I didn’t see any real effort in him, I called it quits.

We talked, we argued, and I told him I would try again, but he wasn’t trying on his part. It felt like the marriage was one-sided, and I was the only one who wanted it. I prayed tirelessly to God, desperate to keep my family together and not be a statistic. I didn’t want my daughter to grow up in a broken home like I did, with divorced parents, but what I failed to realize at that moment was she was already in a broken home. So, I filed for divorce.

The pain of the betrayal left me intensely bitter. I stopped believing in love; I stopped believing in happy marriages; I thought everyone who was married was lying to us about how happy they were. I was moving and acting very selfishly and hurting people along the way. I was drifting further and further from God and acting like someone I didn’t know until I couldn’t do it anymore. Bitterness took over my life, and I could have chosen to live like that, but God called me back. I was at the point where I was tired of crying, being angry, and living without God.

So, I decided to get involved in the church and change my life. I had been invited to a local church fifteen minutes away from where I lived about a year prior, and I went back one Sunday morning, just me and my daughter. They were starting a new season of growth groups (small groups) and were inviting people to join. I found a young adult group that met on Monday nights at the church, and I joined.

At first, I was timid; I wouldn’t share much, just listened and observed. As time passed, I opened up more and more, and I never thoroughly went into detail about what I struggled with in that season. Still, their prayers, teaching me how to read the Bible, challenging me to be disciplined and read for at least 20 minutes daily, and pray, helped me develop a deeper relationship with God. I began to lay everything to Jesus as they poured into me. Slowly my heart began to change, which caused my life to change, too, and the deeper my relationship with God got, the more I craved Him.

The bitterness faded, my heart softened, I was no longer angry, and I could forgive my ex-husband for everything. I got more involved with the church, attended service faithfully every Sunday, growth group every Monday, and on Wednesdays, I was an adult leader for the youth ministry. I changed the type of music I listened to, what I would watch on tv, and what I consumed online. I was finally at peace.

Jesus is the only one who can transform us, but a community can help us. They support us, encourage us, and provide resources and prayers. There is a reason why Jesus places certain people in our lives during difficult seasons. For example, one of my closest friends now is a friend I met in the growth group! We’ve poured into each other and have shared testimonies. She is truly a gem, and I’m so thankful for her.

Prayer: Lord, I pray for anyone reading this who may need a community that they open their hearts to let those you’ve placed in their lives to help them heal. You’ve made us to be in community, you’ve made us to thrive in community, and I pray that everyone will find their tribe, that they find those who will pour into them, pray for them, lift them up, and hold them down when life gets hard. Those who will always guide them back to you! Jesus, thank you for my tribe and community. Thank you for providing those people who I needed in that dark season of my life. And thank you that I can share part of my story now to help others. In your name, Jesus, I pray always, Amen!

Spiritual Sisters By Karen-Marie Gariba

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 23:05:20 GMT

How to find your spiritual sisters when you are far from home.

Do you find yourself far from home? These days, whether through work, marriage, ministry or travel, we can often find ourselves somewhere new. That could be a new town, a new state or province, or even a new nation. While we are always thankful for our natural families, there are times when we find ourselves far from where we were born.

The Bible in Psalm 86:6 tells us, “God sets the lonely in families…. “ I’ve found this to be so true in the natural and also in the spiritual. That’s where our spiritual sisters come in.

Spiritual sisters

When I found myself living far from home, I came to the realization I needed my sisters around me—my spiritual sisters.

This is particularly true if living in other nations. Travel and a desire to see the world brought this Scottish-born gal to Asia. I was backpacking, hitchhiking, travelling, and seeing all I could see.

I thought I was simply travelling through. But God had other plans. I got saved in Hong Kong. And I got a job there. I fell in love with the land and the people. And found myself living and working there for eight years. In Scotland, I was part of a very large extended family.

My mom was one of twelve children, so not only did I have my immediate family, but I also had cousins by the dozens. Living in Hong Kong was my first time residing in a foreign land—and without my family. I was grateful for phone calls, emails and letters across the oceans.

But there are also times you need family near at hand too. God was about to teach me something: the importance of spiritual sisters.

I believe this is true for all of us, especially so when we live far from home.

Sisters in the single season

A simple Mexican brunch on a Sunday after church service in the Mid Levels district of Hong Kong. Four single gals together. We chatted, laughed, and had fun.

And we shared our hearts, encouraged and supported one another in prayer. It was there that we prayed our first prayers for our future husbands. All of us were far from home and our families. At the end of the brunch, one of us said these amazing words: “Hey, we should do this again next week.”

And a spiritual sisterhood was born. That Sunday, brunch became a weekly gathering. That connection, support, and prayer are something I will treasure all of my life. We all grew so much in our faith during this special season.

The prayers for a future husband worked and would take me on another journey across the world to Canada to meet the man I would marry. I write about that journey in my book “Goodbye Singleness, a love story to make you believe in love.”

Sisters in the season of being a new mom. I found myself a newlywed in Canada to my African-born husband. And our brand-new baby boy. My family was in Scotland, my husband’s family was in Africa, and again I was in a new land. I prayed to the Lord: “How do I raise a son in a foreign land without aunties, grannies, and cousins?”

Indeed God brought aunties and grannies to be a blessing to our family. And He also brought sisters who were in that new mom season. I went to my very first mom-and-baby group.

I was late and overwhelmed, new to town, finding parking, and adjusting to the upheaval of travelling with a new baby. I arrived mid-class and obviously during sharing time.

I felt awful arriving late and disrupting the group activity in progress. But the mom-and-baby group took it in stride, welcoming me. They were going around the circle, each sharing their biggest challenge in motherhood. I had barely settled in, and it was my turn to share.

Somehow I found the courage to share my response with this group I was just meeting for the first time. I will never forget that moment, and tears well up as I write. The group seemed to move as one and physically leaned in toward me. I felt carried by their care.

If a group can give you a compassionate and empathetic hug without hugging you, I experienced it that day. A new mom asked me, “Shall we get together with our babies this week?” Brand new in town and without my family, I gratefully said, “Yes, that would be great.”

She also said at the end, “Shall we do this again next week?” We were two at first, then it grew to four gals again, meeting weekly with our bundles of joy. My sisters in my new baby season had been found.

Sisters in the ministry

As our baby grew, so did our ministry, and my husband and I planted a church and entered the ministry.

Another new season had arrived. Where were my sisters in the ministry? My sisters in my single season found me, and my sisters found me in my new mom season. Now it was time for me to find my sisters for this season of ministry.

It took time, it took intentionality, and it took prayer. But I found them. They came one at a time. And over some time. They were once in a while to start with. And then became more regular. But I’m so glad I found them. I have four gals again who are pastors and ministry leaders in their cities here in Canada.

In this season, we all have differentnt schedules and things going on in our lives. I am very grateful we can share this journey in our various stages of ministry. We meet individually this time around or travel to each other’s cities.

Praying with each other and encouraging each other in our walk with God is such an important part of our walk in this season.

Finding your spiritual sisters

Each time has been different, and asking God to lead you is always the best place to start. Here are some ideas to get you started. Are you in a single-career woman season? Perhaps try a simple invitation “Hey, would you like to have brunch after service?” Are you a new mom finding your way with your bundle of joy? “Would you like to walk with our babies this week?’ Are you a ministry leader? Reach out to another female ministry leader or a leader in a neighbouring city: “Could we get together to pray?”

Sometimes it is easy and natural. Sometimes it’s a little bit nerve-wracking and stressful. But it is always, always worth it. And when you have done it, it feels great. If you did it and reached out, how did it go? Sometimes you hit it off from the get-go. Sometimes it takes a few times to connect. But the thing is, you never know unless you try. And here is the important part. We all have good intentions. But often we are all busy. And it’s easy to round off the gathering with a catch-all. We must do this again.

The Secret of transitioning friends to sisters: “Hey, this was great, and would you like to get together again next Wednesday or next month?” And pull out your calendar. And put a date on it. What time? What place? "Hey, could we do this once a month, or, once a week?”

Life is sweeter with sisters.

My natural sisters and my spiritual sisters have so enriched my life. Life is sweeter with sisters. Now it’s over to you. I pray God will lead you to find yours. Blessings. Karen-Marie

Karen-Marie Gariba is a speaker, artist, entrepreneur and author. She is a world traveller with a heart for the nations, and has a passion for people to enter into the fullness of all God has for them. Her first book “Goodbye Singleness a love story to make you believe in love” shares the story of how God brought her together with her husband, Zak Gariba, across the nations. They are pastors and in the ministry, and have a son, Zak Jr., they love to travel and do itinerant ministry to the nations of the world.

How Community Can Change a Life By Gladys Childs, Ph.D.

melissaheerebout@icloud.com (Melissa Heerebout ) — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 22:52:12 GMT

My mother was a mean drunk. In elementary school coming home was always an adventure

Would she be there? Would she be passed out in the bedroom? Would she be raging? Or would I be locked out of the house for hours, waiting for her to return from some drunken escapade? I had no community to whom I could reach out.

Fast forward to the summer before I began high school, we had moved from the suburbs of Houston to a little town nestled in the gently rolling hills of Arkansas called Amity. No stop lights, no traffic, just a town square, never-ending trees, and people who kept smiling at us even though we did not know them.

This is where I found community. It began with the youth pastor and a teen girl who came by our house to invite us all to church and me to youth group. Thus far, I had grown up not going to church. My family had no intentions of going, but I had nothing better to do, so I went to a few youth group gatherings. Then, they invited me to church camp, and again with nothing better to do I went.

At camp, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. This tiny church became a home to me. A place where I could escape. A place where I learned about Jesus and what it meant to be a Christian. This community of believers changed my life through their kindness, guidance, love, and generosity.

They embodied 1 Peter 4:10, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." (ESV) Being good stewards, they welcomed me warmly into their community and served me in my need. And, by making space for me, God was able to start me on the path of healing and restoration.

How does community impact a life? Now as a Religion professor, university Chaplain, and pastor's wife, more than once, I have heard it proclaimed the church community is not necessary to faith as it is irrelevant and outdated.

However, I know that you would not be reading my words without the church. They would not be written. I would not have spent over twenty years talking about God with thousands of college students, speaking at conferences and retreats, and ministering to broken individuals.

The woman I am is because of community, specifically the wonderfully beautiful church community in Amity. I was the one out of the ninety-nine Jesus went to find using a small-town church. This sheep rejoices because of the communal effort by a faithful group of believers. Community changed my life and set me on a path to minister to others. I can hear some of my previous naysayers state, but you are just one person, one life changed.

My answer is, Jesus said a good shepherd will leave the ninety-nine to find the one who is lost.

Matthew 18:11-13 states, "What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray." (ESV) God began a good work in me through community. An ordinary country church nestled in the gentle rolling hills of Arkansas became a home and place of refuge for one lost sheep.

And that made all the difference for me.

Helping people deeply connect with God through speaking, leading retreats, and writing, Gladys Childs is a straight-talking Religion professor, pastor's wife, and mom. She currently serves as Chaplain at Texas Wesleyan University. Connect with her at gladyschilds.com, Instagram @gladyschildsauthor, or on Facebook GladysAnnChilds.

Community Necessity By Beth Collins

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 22:42:41 GMT

“Leave. Me. Alone!”

Emphatic. Direct. Emotional.

If people only knew how often those words bounce around the intricate folds of our minds. Our children incessantly say the word “Mom,” seriously, though!

People at work always asking for favours or interrupting our productivity. Texts and emails when we are on vacation. My husband sometimes says that he is impressed with my verbal restraint in situations that are, shall we say, less than favourable.

My response is usually, “If only you knew the things I am choosing not to say, you would be really impressed!”

But sometimes, on occasion, in those moments of weakness, the words escape. They sneak past our lips, those gleaming guardians of good manners, and bang down the audio canals of our listeners. “Leave me alone!”, or, “I just want to be alone!” And I guess if that’s all we say, it’s a bonus.

But let’s settle in there for a moment on the content of that particular thought. Of being alone, actually. Because when you brush past the knee-jerk exclamation and look at it, you are led into a profound discussion of something deeply human. And deeply Godly. To be alone is not God’s plan. Put another way, and we will never become who we were created to become without being in community.

For intentional moments, yes; for purposeful retreats from regular human activity and contact, being alone can be quite healthy. Jesus did that. He can often be seen wandering out to the mountain by himself to pray and reflect. That is a good thing, but make sure to see that he always comes back.

Jesus always returned to the disciples, the crowd, the clingers-on, and the committed. Jesus always got back into the mix of community to continue the work the Father had planned. Always! Community is God’s plan! It is his plan because community is a part of the very nature of God, and so, to discover and recover true community is a part of being restored to the image of God. Well, that’s heavy! What??

"We will never become who we were created to become without being in community."

Have you ever gone on a solo trip? I have. I remember traveling through a beautiful part of the countryside. The view was spectacular, with mountain vistas and rolling hedges of green waving from the surrounding forests. Wild flowers dotted the spaces, and the whole thing just made me stop and take a breath.

It was beautiful. And yet, I had the very real thought that I wished I could share that view with someone. Is that weird? I mean it wouldn’t have made the view any more awe-inspiring. The colors would have been the same. The mountains would have still stretched to the same height, but there is something divinely enriching about sharing moments like those with someone else.

A friend, a partner, a group on a tour bus! Sharing life’s views is enriched by sharing life’s experiences with someone else. This is so because we have been created in God’s image, and, at the core of God’s character, his essence, we find that thing called community!

Take a look at Genesis 1. The whole chapter is amazing in revealing God’s pattern and purpose in creation, but slide down to verse 26 and listen. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…” Then Vs. 27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” What do you see here?

I mean it’s fantastic! Here’s the thing. Community is one of the first things that God reveals about himself in the Bible. Really. Let US create. In OUR image. In OUR likeness. Let THEM rule. Humanity is created in the image of God. Male and Female. Look at the implication here.

In God’s model of creation, the one male does not display the image of God. The one female does not display the image of God. Rather, it’s the two together, the community of created humanity which displays the image of God.

In this passage, it’s “them” together as the demonstration of his nature and purpose. This concept pervades the entire Bible when you look for it. God’s story is rolled out in the context of community. Who is God? He is a Holy Trinity! What is the Trinity? The Trinity is community! Not three different God’s trying to work together to get along. Rather, we see a Trinity of oneness, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Three persons that are so one in desire, one in love, one in purpose, one in spirit, one in essence, one in will, that they are One God in Three Persons. The Trinity. And that is in the opening statement of the Bible. It must be important. God. Is. Community. Therefore, to find ourselves growing in His likeness and restored to His image, we must find ourselves involved in and embraced by godly community.

And at first, I’m thinking, “Wow, that’s great!” And then, after a moment’s consideration, I think, “Oh… well, that’s actually really hard.” Community is not easy, friends. My husband and I traveled with a singing group for six weeks one summer. For those six weeks, our community consisted of 6 people in an extended Econoline van. We ate together, slept on each other’s shoulders, worked together, prayed together, and performed together.

Sounds great right? However, we also argued together, grew frustrated with each other, jabbered in conversation, and, at times, got tired of seeing each other’s faces. I vividly remember a shoe flying across the van in the course of one heated exchange. Still, sound great? Being in that community or any community on this side of eternity is supremely hard. Being in that community or any community on this side of eternity is supremely rewarding!

Being in godly community on this side of eternity is an absolute, nonnegotiable must! Being in community with God’s people on the journey toward maturity is to grow in the very image of God! God is community!

As hard as that summer was in the van, I would not give back that experience if even I could. It was messy, and it was difficult. It was powerful and profound, and it literally shaped my life toward God’s image. I grew closer to God and more mature in myself by that hard experience of community than I ever did on my own.

That is how community works in this fallen world; that is how we learn about ourselves and God; that is how we grow in grace, and that is how we move out of the silly individualism of our society and become more shaped to the image of the creator. We can’t do it on our own. We really can’t. But what is Christian community? What is this fellowship that shapes our hearts towards God?

Let’s start here. Transformational community is not defined by having potlucks together. It’s not defined by having great games nights or going on excursions or gaining a group of friends to hang out with. It is not defined by being a faithful attendee to worship services with the same people week after week.

Can I say something? Will you let it settle in your hearts? Transformational community is a group of people working together to know God in the midst of the chaos of life, but God is the first focus, not the chaos. Transformational community is a spirit fuelled connectedness to each other through a grace-motivated connection with God.

The church community has a very social aspect; there are potlucks, games nights, and services. But those things cannot be the focus or motivation. The focus and motivation of transformational community must be on Oneness with God together. Because if that is the first focus, then we will not quit when the going gets tough.

We will not tear each other down when our feelings get hurt. We will not lose our minds when the music is too loud. You get the picture. To be sure, our feelings will get hurt because – we are saved and are being saved. We are on a journey toward wholeness, but we have a lot of brokenness in our suitcases.

We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, yet we are all working out our salvation with fear and trembling. What a journey! What a difficult task! What a rewarding calling! And what are the results of forming and being involved in a transformational community? They are profound.

The result is nothing less than Jesus himself being glorified and proven to be God’s heaven-sent son. Really. It’s a topic for a whole article itself, but let me refer you to the Gospel of John, to Jesus’ final great prayer before the crucifixion. Listen, “My prayer is not for them alone (the disciples).

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message (you and me)” What was his prayer? “That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us SO THAT the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20 – 21) What is the evidence that Jesus came from God?

These are His words, not mine. The evidence that Jesus is God’s son, that he rose from the dead, that he does indeed reign at the right hand of the Father, and that he is who he said he is. We all are ONE together. One together with God and one together with each other. That is true community, and true community is what proves that Jesus is God.

I am speechless!

Throw out any weak, self-focused conception you have held regarding being in a community of faith. Embrace God’s vision and God’s calling to be changed and shaped into his likeness through that community and bring glory to God! Community is part of the essence of God.

We are created in God’s image, therefore to discover and recover true community is a core part of being restored to the image of God. Is that amazing?

We will fail, win, fall, and stand because we are God’s children growing into God’s sons and daughters. But we must push on and pursue God in community, so that He may be glorified and that the world may believe.

My friends, let the shoes fly across the vans. Let the work begin. Let our focus shift from the chaos to the creator, and let transformation have its way in your life.

Jesus always came back to the community. So must we.

Loneliness: A Catalyst for Love By Anne Van Gilst

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 22:30:07 GMT

We've all been there, haven't we? Lonely.

Sometimes I'm lonely and alone, and other times I'm surrounded by lots of people and still lonely. It's at times hard to put a finger on the why, I just know that's how I feel.

At times my loneliness is accompanied by restlessness, and other times I hear the lies: I have no friends. Something must be wrong with me. I'm too different, not fun enough, or I'm not good at being a friend. Perhaps you have your own set of lies that plays out in your mind.

My responses to loneliness have varied. For one, I've hosted a few pity parties. I've gotten out the tub of ice cream and tried to lose myself in some show or book. Or, I've tried last minute to reach out to people. And if they happened to be busy, which on short notice they often were, the same lies would start running through my head. Ironically, sometimes when I feel lonely, I resist doing the very things that could help me. I could phone or text someone, but I don't want to.

Instead, I want others to reach out to me. If they connect of their own volition, that communicates that someone deems me worthy of friendship--a special gift. That's why when you are lonely, the friend who initiates contact just because can truly lift your spirits. But unfortunately, it's pretty difficult for others to know exactly what you need and when you need it. And so, no matter how many friends you may have, it's still likely that there will be times you feel lonely or misunderstood.

As I was going over some notes I'd made from a few years ago, I came across this quote:

"Loneliness is an invitation to recognize that our hearts have more capacity to love."

So good. I had never thought of it that way, and it got me thinking. What if feeling lonely is a built-in signal from God— a signal that points toward the two most important commandments: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and "'love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 22:36-39).

Could I change the deficit-oriented/negative thinking that usually accompanied my loneliness and begin to view feeling lonely as a reminder that I have love to give? How would my spirit respond if I intentionally focused on loving God and people whenever I felt lonely? What if we saw the two commandments not as rules to be strictly followed but as lifelines out of lonely places?

As I shared above, I recognize that when we are feeling lonely and depressed, it's at times difficult to choose healthy actions. And so, in the section below, I've offered a few tangible ways to begin the process. Start small and see where it leads.

1. Turn your attention toward God and away from yourself . Name His attributes and offer praise. Give thanks for the good things around you, consider the ways God has shown up in your life, and remember the costly work of Jesus to redeem you. Simply sit in His presence and invite Him into whatever is going on. And here is the promise: "As you draw near to God, he will draw near to you" (James 4:8).

2. Plan or act in tangible ways to show love to others. Set up a future coffee date with someone who comes to mind. Intercede in prayer for someone and let them know. Send an encouraging note. Bring someone a meal. Make a donation or read up on a charitable organization with the intent to get involved. Make that difficult phone call you've been putting of, you know, the one where you need to apologize. Not sure what to do? Ask God for an opportunity. As you reach out, don't look for how someone can fill your void; look for how you can be a blessing to them.

3. Receive the love that comes your way, remembering that you are someone's neighbour. For some of us, being on the receiving end of loving actions can be hard. No one always wants to be on the receiving end: That means we need to take turns. ;) There's no shame in asking for help. We all need it at one time or another. It's through reciprocal giving and receiving that strong lasting relationships are forged.

And finally, I think when we actively pursue God and are on mission to love others, we can't help but attract good company along the way. C.S. Lewis expressed this notion when he wrote, "Those who are going nowhere can have no fellow traveler s ".

So, let's get going. Let's get loving.

Anne loves digging into God's Word and processing her understandings through writing and conversation. Having spent a few decades in the field of education through contract work, she is turning her attention to exploring more writing opportunities and other new adventures.

References: Nelson, Shasta. (2013). Friendships Don't Just Happen!: The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of Girl Friends.Turner Publishing Company. Lewis, C.S. (1971). The Four Loves. Harvest Books, Montgomery, U.S.A.

Seeking New Community By Casey Wayne

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 22:21:34 GMT

I lay in bed feeling defeated and lonely.

The friendships I was already struggling to maintain were all but non-existent now. Having been in our new town only a few months, we enjoyed more time with family, but I became painfully aware of no longer having fellowship with friends.

We used to do playdates and birthday parties, and I had met all the ladies in my mom group years before we even became moms. As a group, we walked through the journey of early motherhood and the stress of adjusting to a new lifestyle, big decisions in parenting, and how to raise kids to love Jesus.

Now I was trapped with my friends far away and stressed over the process of trying to make new ones. I am sure you can think of a time in your life when you experienced a feeling like this—a season where you became painfully aware of your need for relationships with others. If you are in a season like this, I pray that you push forward, trusting God as you seek out new relationships. We are made for community and fellowship. In the absence of it, we survive, but we will never thrive.

From the beginning, God created us for it. Right after He created Adam, He created Eve, saying it is "not good for him to be alone" (Genesis 4:18 ESV). We were made to do life with others, but sometimes it is so easy to neglect it and avoid it in fear of the unknown or a lack of approval from others.

The day-to-day schedule juggling a spouse, kids, and work feels busy enough. Busyness and a lack of intentionality become how Satan can distract us from God's design for us. Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Even Jesus chose to live in a community with few disciples. He ate, slept, prayed, and traveled with them for the duration of His ministry here on Earth (Mark 3:13-19). Like a chosen family, they spent their days together with a common heart toward glorifying God. Jesus encouraged relationships and community even as He was dying on the cross. As His mother and aunts watched Him suffer, some of His last words are found in John 19:26-27 (ESV), saying,

"When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home." As He struggled to breathe and endured pain hard to fathom, he knew community was what they both would need to walk through the days ahead. Not only is fellowship in community how God designed us as individuals to thrive but also how He designed the Gospel to thrive. Relationships are at the core of our own faith walk.

Our relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus is the heart of our faith (John 14:6). In the book of John, Scripture describes this relationship with Jesus as the "True Vine." John 15:8-11 (ESV) says, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full".

The depth of our relationship with God, in Christ, creates in us a joy and strength that is pivotal to our ability to have community. As we flourish in the "True Vine," we can better partner with God to encourage the faith of other Christ followers and also be encouraged by others connected to the "Vine." We learn, grow and uplift one another as our heavenly Father restores our hearts. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV), God tells us, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing".

It is important that we intentionally encourage each other in faith and that we fellowship with other Christians through this world together. Colossians 3:16 (ESV) says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

However, none of this is possible if we do not trust God with our time and relationships if we do not take intentional steps to seek out other followers of Christ to form relationships with. We must trust God with the details and wisdom to navigate that process.

But we must first take that leap of faith to willingly step into those spaces where Christians meet. Connect to a local church, and find a small group or women's Bible study. This takes time, and I will not tell you it is void of awkwardness or disappointments. It may take attending multiple groups before God opens the door to others you feel you can connect with on a deeper level.

It took me a little over a year to start feeling comfortable in new friendships. After trying out multiple groups and Bible Study groups, planting those seeds of possibility, God allowed me to see more clearly the relationships He had for me. I still have moments where I stress over how I said or did something.

My brain keeps me up at night wondering if they actually want to be my friend or if they just put up with me. Satan tries his best to keep me from moving forward to have fellowship and community with other believers. But I choose to trust God and His design for my life. Community is worth prioritizing even when it is awkward, and I do not know what others think about me. I lift it all up to the Lord and move forward as He calls me into a relationship with Him and others.

My eyes have seen His faithful provision enough to know He is trustworthy. Trust Him with your heart, time, and fears as you step toward building your community of believers so you can encourage each other, glorifying God as you do so.

Casey Wayne is a wife and mother of two. She enjoys time with her family doing simple things like movie nights and cooking together. As a devotional writer, Casey strives to share her story with relatable honesty, showing how God is faithful throughout the big and small moments of life. She has a heart for encouraging the faith walk of other moms. Praying they gain a deeper connection with our heavenly Father. Her family lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Connect with Casey at caseywayne.org. You can also find her on Instagram or Facebook @caseylwayne.

Collaboration-Two Are Better Than One By Michele Wilbert

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 22:11:43 GMT

Sitting on my back porch, I noticed two California scrub jays in my yard.

The birds landed on the fence together, and then one swooped down on the limb of our apricot tree. The other darted from tree to tree, and my eyes bounced with it, and I realized it was distracting me from the handiwork of its friend who was knocking down apricots. The two then pecked at something in the ground underneath the apricot tree and took it back up high into the coastal redwood. I became more curious to learn about their collaborative efforts rather than the fact they were stealing my apricots. How had they figured out how to work together?

If you have ever been part of a team or led one, you’ve experienced collaboration. It’s the group effort towards a common goal. Group projects sometimes bring up memories of school projects where there was always the take-charge person and the person who let others do the work. Some resign to go it alone to avoid the tension when no one can agree on a solution. The significance of collaboration gets lost when the process isn’t seamless. Sometimes it’s not until the completion of the project that you see collaborations’ significance.

Intrigued by the team effort of these scrub jays, I learned that they usually forage in pairs, family groups, or non-kin groups. They work together to store volumes of food. It brought to mind Mark 6:7 when Jesus sends the disciples out two by two. Perhaps Jesus had lessons to teach us all about the effectiveness of co-laboring together and the need for us to see one another’s gifts to the body.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 instructs us,

" Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up: but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” In Romans 12:8, Paul encourages the members of the young church in Rome to work together. A metaphor of the body is used where Christians are described as “members one of another.”

Paul desired believers to understand that each has a part to play and a gift to use for the glory of God and the edification of the body. Jesus’ relational ministry with the disciples involved cooperation, compromise, and thinking of others more highly than ourselves.

How can you foster collaboration in your teams?

Invite your Creator, the master of all creation, into your collaborative efforts. Ask the Lord to help your team work together, be creative, and innovate.

Celebrate collaboration! When teams come together to solve problems, praise these efforts. Give them time on the schedule in meetings to share their successes and shortcomings. Teams that share misses offer valuable lessons learned for future teams. Be vulnerable about how failures are as much a part of the process as the successful results.

Invite everyone into collaboration by grouping unlike people together on teams. Place an IT teammate and a marketing person together on a project. Ask your worship leader to team up with your facility team to tackle a future project.

Put teams in creative environments different from their own. Set up a team meeting after a tour of a candy factory or a behind-the-scenes stadium tour. Take a hike or try a new restaurant. Get your team out of their ordinary surroundings and watch creative ideas flow.

Problem-solve together. When small irritants arise in your organization or church, enlist a cross-functional team to brainstorm together. Gather volunteers with your staff team and brainstorm ideas. Ex: Do we still need to print bulletins? Let your organization see that collaboration is not just for big projects but everyday problem-solving.

Brainstorm as a regular rhythm in your smaller teams and the large team as a whole.

Enlist the “no idea is a bad idea” in the brainstorming phase of collaboration. Do popcorn-style free-flowing idea generation before people say why something won’t work. This includes silence being a necessary part of the process. Throw out the idea of pro/con lists early in the brainstorming phase.

Don’t allow naysayers to be the louder voice. Squash critical voices and encourage constructive conversations.

Laugh! Don’t always take your ideas so seriously, nor discount a silly idea.

Creating a collaborative culture takes intention, time, vulnerability, and effort. In a work culture that values swift decision-making, sacrifice time to allow for a collaborative solution. You will gain internal buy-in, which goes a long way toward a lasting solution. Collaboration unites a team and makes it stronger. Don’t be surprised by the out-of-the-box solutions to broken processes and the new ideas that will flourish in a culture of collaboration.

Michele Wilbert is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and Bible teacher who lives in California with her husband and son. She is passionate about equipping women to lead right where they are no matter what stage of life. She speaks about how we can engage culture with our faith and use our gifts in our spheres of influence. She writes small group curriculum, devotions, leadership development and is co-author of Unshakable Peace in an Unsteady World. She is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and finds joy teaching others to study God’s Word.

Kingdom Leaders Lead Themselves Well By Jessica Grace

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 21:57:55 GMT

True leaders start with themselves, and kingdom leaders should exemplify what it looks like to lead oneself.

Every day we are inundated with leadership skills training, podcasts on how to make the habits of a leader, apps to track new ideas, and are sold classes on how to be a better leader for the people around us.

But one of the best ways, and one of the most biblical ways to lead, is to lead yourself well first.

If you have ever heard the quote, “Show me the people you spend the most time with, and I’ll show you your future”, then you know it is not merely a quote-worthy phrase but the way in which Jesus lived his life. Jesus, the most perfect person who has ever existed, fully God and fully human, is the ultimate example of how to lead oneself well. Will we ever be as good as him? No, but if we choose to follow His example, we will be the leaders this world needs. Jesus led himself well even when it wasn’t easy and in the most challenging circumstances.

And yet, we see leaders every day dropping like flies from the yoke of leadership and responsibility because they didn’t lead themselves well in those places. We can all point a finger and make a judgment on a news headline, but do we have the guts and conviction to look in the mirror and ask ourselves and God, “Is there any offensive way in me?” It is easier to lead yourself well when everything is going well, circumstances are simple, healthy habits are formed, and you are just living your life in a happy rhythm. It is when life is difficult that you will either lead yourself or others will lead you somewhere else because make no mistake: you will either lead or be led; there is no way around that fact. Self-leadership is not just habit trackers, inspirational quotes, and reaching your financial goals, although those are good. Leading yourself well is leading your character in tough situations, leading your reactions when provoked, and leading your emotions when things get tough.

A few ways Jesus exemplified self-leadership:

1. He didn’t lose His identity to the crowd: When people would question his authority, that didn’t shake His footing, nor did He question His identity - do you?

2. He didn’t lose His integrity: When people would call him a liar, He never lost his countenance - do you?

3. He put His relationship with God first: He sought time alone with His Heavenly Father because He knew He couldn’t do it without Him - do you?

4. He measured success by an eternal measure: He didn’t care if what He was doing made sense to the world. He knew He was called to do it by God and used the same measuring stick as His father - do you?

True leadership of self looks back and is prouder of their character, stronger in conviction, the strength of identity, and a better extender of grace than they were a year ago. They measure themselves on how quickly they give compassion, how automatic grace is extended, and how uncompromising they are in their values and what God‘s called them to do. Leadership is an important topic, but it must start with how we lead ourselves.

And for all the parents, spiritual parents, and mentors, know that someone is watching you and wanting to live the way you live. There is generation after generation of leaders to look to, but the one that comes after you is looking to you to see what a good leader looks like, so do you think you would be proud of what they see, copy, and model of how you live and lead your life?

Jessica Grace is a writer, speaker and Family Communication Coach. She has a passion for God’s word and sharing about the power of words. Through her own experience, she has developed a passion for helping families communicate and grow closer together even during difficult times. With her MS in Applied Family Science, coupled with her own experiences, Jess has the knowledge and passion for helping families thrive in various seasons.

Summer Adventures By Melissa Heerebout

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 21:45:41 GMT

As I write this, I am sitting on the front porch of a borrowed lakefront cabin.

The air is cool and crisp after a breezy June storm rolled in following three days of glorious sunshine and big blue skies. Inside the cabin are my kids, my husband, and a few of our staff members from the church we pastor.

These past few days have been filled with laughter, like belly-aching laughter, endless card games, hours of swimming, a few sunburns, birthday celebrations, watching major league baseball, and eating way too much.

The most important thing coming out of this cabin-dwelling week is a greater sense of community. This week I watched three young adults invest endlessly in my three kids. We sat around a campfire and had good long conversations about God, church, work, and future life plans. We cooked, cleaned, made a mess, and lived like a family for a few days.

I firmly believe that this week will make a radical difference in our friendships. Having a shared experience deepens the level of community and sense of belonging. We may work side by side together every day, but something impactful can happen when you leave the office behind and embrace an adventure.

Sometimes you need to disrupt the flow of everyday life. Heading out on an adventure with your family, friends, co-workers, or church family can create a bond that will increase your relational equity with one another.

Taking time to make these memories will build into your community, and having an increased sense of community in your life can be transformative. These are the people that you will learn to rely on when seasons get tough. You’ll be the person they call when they need a friend to lean on. Community is vitally important for our lives, and it’s worth investing in.

So grab a friend and go on an adventure this summer.

Maybe it’s just down the street for some late-night ice cream, a kayak trip, or a gathering around your campfire on Tuesday night. Perhaps you can get a few days away at a cabin - whatever it looks like, decide to make the time. Choose to have some great conversations. Talk about Jesus and your relationship with Him. Talk about your present and what you are hoping for in the future. Talk about how you guys can be there for each other when things get tough. Laugh, do something silly, and make some memories this summer.

We need each other, sister - make room for what God wants to do in your community. Prioritize some adventure!

Melissa spends her days, like many women, wearing many different hats! She pastors at a local church and is passionate about creativity, reaching her community, marriage, and motherhood. Melissa is all about Jesus + Community, from creating the Dear Sisters community to publishing an online and print magazine to coaching women to pursue healthy mindsets to reach their goals. She and her husband Tim, their three kids, and their lovable lab Watson live outside Vancouver, BC.

The Beautiful Table By Kim Gomez

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 21:39:05 GMT

The table is beautiful because it reflects the beautiful faces of the people gathered around it.

It’s made alive by their heartbeats.

It’s heard many secrets and yet has never betrayed the vulnerable ones sharing their pain.

Loud laughter has echoed across the table - spreading onto the others.

Indelibly on its surface are the echos of sentimental love letters written there.

It has hosted family and friends for multitudes of feasts celebrating life and its milestones.

The table has been showered by tears - like emotional rain.

Countless cups of coffee have been shared.

It’s been burned by dripped candle wax and flooded by spilled water.

The faded shadows of waxy crayons add a little color as the giggles of children still echo

Underneath the tabletop, it has witnessed the wringing of many hands and even some swift kicks between lovers.

It’s heard the prayers of the people and felt the passion and the desperation of their words.

The table has held up our heads when we have wearily laid them on the cool wooden surface.

It’s been wiped down tens of thousands of times, always ready to welcome the next group of gatherers.

Conversations had,

Ideas born,

Relationships began,

Relationships ended,

Promises made,

Solutions discussed,

Games played,

Prayers prayed,

Hope renewed,

Wine poured,

Encouragements spoken,

Businesses started,

Eulogy’s written,

Babies fed,

Toasts given,

I encourage you to gather around the table, and it doesn’t matter what table.

You’ll be eye to eye with your people—no distractions between you except perhaps some food & drink.

Connect because relationships add flavor to our lives.

And don’t be too picky about who’s sitting across from you.

Expand your territory. Listen more than you speak.

There’s no room for judgment at the table.

How To Actively Pursue Community and Increase Your Social Health By Elana van Deventer

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 20:13:29 GMT

Although we are more connected, we are more isolated, disconnected and lonely than ever.

In fact, loneliness is one of the leading causes of death in our world today. Tragically, studies indicate that loneliness impacts our overall well-being and increases the risk of premature mortality among all ages, making it a growing public health hazard.

Whether we like having alone time or not, we all need community. In fact, engaging positively with people correlates with a number of desirable physical and mental outcomes.

Community involvement has been associated with mental health and cognitive resilience, reduction of chronic pain, lower blood pressure, and improved cardiovascular health.

By its very nature, we cannot fix loneliness by ourselves. Actively choosing a community mindset to increase our social health is vital to thrive in life.

Here are some tips on how to actively pursue community & increase your social health:

Have Meaningful Discussions: Make your conversations matter, whether speaking with your spouse while making dinner, your kids in the car to school, grabbing coffee with a colleague, or at lunch with a friend. Take the time to listen to people's stories. Everyone has a unique story and something to share—something you can learn from. Be sure not just to hear but try to listen to people without judgment.

Switch off Your Phone: The average person spends up to eight hours a day using technology. Find ways to limit your use of technology throughout the day and increase your face-to-face interaction. Maybe put your phone aside when you are eating. Or leave it at home when you go for a walk.

Volunteer & reach out: Serving others is a wonderful way to become part of a meaningful community, improving both your mental and physical health—studies show how helping others can increase your own chance of healing! Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine found that giving had greater benefits than receiving.

Participants in the study who gave help showed reduced stress and increased feelings of reward in their brain imaging. This research concludes that when you help others, you're also helping yourself. Join a local institution, church or non-profit organization and see what you can do to help.

Be Friendly: When in a small space with a stranger, such as an elevator, smile and say hello instead of looking at the floor or your phone. Think of ways to start a conversation.

Get Out the House: Think about what you could do to get out of the house and foster community in your area.

Perhaps start a book club, a hiking meet-up or arrange dinner parties and invite someone new each time. Get to know your neighbours and invite them for a walk, coffee, or join a local community or church. The possibilities are endless. This may be a little uncomfortable initially, but remember, everyone loves to be included, and you never know who's struggling with loneliness. The simple act of reaching out may be what helps someone heal. If you are struggling with loneliness, talk to someone. Finding life difficult at times is not something to be ashamed of.

Elana van Deventer is a speaker, author and one of the pioneer Neurocycle facilitators trained and certified by Dr. Caroline Leaf. She's obsessed with restoring hope in hearts and minds through scripture and science & helping others unblock themselves to reach their full potential.

The Question and The Statement By Dr. Kate Bohannon

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 20:05:03 GMT

At age 46, I regretfully tell you that I have spent most of my life competing with other women.

My life has centered on proving myself to others, from elementary school science fairs to high-school cheerleading teams. Add to the nature of life as a girl, my first-born status as daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin; you get the picture of striving for perfection, always needing to prove a point. I am still lost on the point I am trying to prove, but there is always a need to confirm something. I even remember entering the doctoral program of my degree and being told the startling statistic that only 3% of those who start the program finish with degrees in seven years. The race was on for me, and Liberty University would include me in their 3% of graduates. See, there I go again, constantly feeling like I need to prove myself!

And then, a couple of years ago, four verses seemed to jump off the pages of my Bible, giving me insight into the strong discord of competition compared to community.

It was common for Jesus to talk in parables or ask questions when ministering to the disciples and crowds. Often His teachings would create more questions than provide answers, leaving those who followed Him on a quest to learn more. A dialogue between Jesus and Peter in John 20:20-23 gives us one of those unanswered questions and Jesus's famous statement, "Follow Me!" The question from Jesus to Peter, "What is that to you?" is followed immediately with "You follow me!" To understand the context of the question and statement, we need to reflect on the entire chapter of John 21 and know that the conversation between Jesus and Peter concerned John, the author. Jesus appeared to the disciples again for the third time after His crucifixion and resurrection. John notes that there are seven of the disciples together again at the Sea of Tiberias. Jesus appeared to them standing on the beach and instructed them to continue fishing, then bring the catch in for breakfast.

After breakfast, Jesus walked Peter through his restoration with a series of questions. These three questions from Jesus are believed to offset Peter's three denials of Christ during the crucifixion. Jesus sequentially asked Peter, "Do you love me?"

" Peter always replied, "Lord, You know that I love You." Jesus then responded, "Feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, and feed my sheep." Following their intimate conversation, Jesus told him the prophecy of Peter's death and again extended His famous invitation, "Follow Me!" Peter's take charge kind of leadership immediately turned to concern and curiosity for the other disciples gathered on the beach for breakfast, particularly John, the disciple Jesus loved. Focusing all his attention on John, Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" It was as if Peter baited Jesus to give each of the disciples prophecy on their deaths.

Peter could be saying, ok, that's a great way for me to die, but what about John? What is going to happen to John? Was Peter concerned for John or ultimately competing with him? Was Peter asking Jesus who would have the most glorious ministry and death? In verse twenty, is Peter concerned, curious, or competing with John's future? Though we cannot assume the tone for Peter's question, we can conclude from the text that he is distracted. Only minutes before, Peter spent intimate time with Jesus, restored from his lack of faith, only to turn around and see John. His view of John troubled him and distracted him from obeying Jesus.

I have never asked Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" but I have asked, "Lord, what about her? Lord, why is this considered fair? Lord, why can't I be the one to do that?" All the while I was distracted with what others were doing for ministry or how they succeeded when my life seemed stagnant. The lessons from this passage are wrapped up in the simplicity of Jesus' response to Peter.

The question and the statement are so elementary and yet so profound. Jesus asked Peter, "What is that to you?" and then reciprocated again, "You follow Me!" I believe Jesus is saying to us, "Do not concern yourself with others; only focus on me…follow Me!" I have learned from His question and statement that if we focus on ourselves, we will always compete with others. Yet if we focus our attention and follow Him, we can walk in community or companionship with those same people. Competition came between the two disciples when Peter concerned himself with John's future.

However, when Peter and John focus on the ministry of leading others to Jesus, "fishing for men," their brotherhood continues.

We will always compete when we focus on ourselves and others. Competition comes when we focus on ourselves. We can walk in companionship and community when we focus on Jesus and His Kingdom. Companionship comes when we focus on Jesus. Jesus is saying don't worry about what your sister is doing; put your focus on me.

The challenge for you and me within this passage is to lay aside all distractions of competition and walk in the sisterhood community together, keeping our focus on the one who matters, Jesus! All we need to do is Follow Him!

Dr. Kate is a second wife to Jack Bohannon and a mother to Elijah, Jana, Rebekah, Ella, and Jude Butler. She spends her extra time traveling or planning her next adventure. Dr. Kate believes you can never have too many trips planned on your calendar! Dr. Kate specializes in women’s counseling, single mom coaching, soul care retreats, and soul care coaching. Her calling is to minister to women in need of soul care. Dr. Kate will walk beside you, sharing her knowledge and love for the Lord every step of the way. Metamorphosis releases Summer of 2023, and Soul Care 101 sometime in the Fall of 2023. You can learn more about Dr. Kate, grab one of her free resources, or read the latest issue of The Caffeinated Kate from her website. You can schedule a counseling or coaching session with Dr. Kate at www.set-apart.org.

Created For Connection By Elizabeth Selinger

melissaheerebout@icloud.com (Melissa Heerebout ) — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 19:53:26 GMT

Connection and community can be so hard to find and cultivate if we do not know our needs.

Our basic need as humans is to be known, seen and loved. God built this into our DNA. This is why He created us for relationship with Him, ourselves, and others. I am sure this makes sense on some level, or you think, “Yes, I want that.”

What if instead of searching for fulfillment in things and coming up empty-handed, we return to the relationship that matters most–our relationship with God and ourselves? We often find that obstacles get in the way of this, which is a difficult place to be. And let me tell you, I have been there in the trenches asking, “Who are my people, community, or my ride or die?”

But when I really stop and think about why this is not happening, it is because I am scared. I am terrified to be known. I am afraid of being found out. You may be sitting there as you read this thinking, “That’s me.” In this moment, I want you to know you are seen, known, and loved in that place. It may not feel like it right now because of the stories we tell ourselves or the trauma our bodies hold from past pain. Your pain matters to God and to those that are seeking deep connection too. Oftentimes we can be our own obstacles to something because of the wounds or pain we have endured.

These may not affect your connection and community now, but they will. Take this as a tip from someone who has been in difficult places where even from my conception, I was not “wanted.” This was woven into my story even before I had a choice for it to be. But God did not leave me there. Even if it took 30 years, God said, “We are going to fully reconcile ourselves to healing of both connection and community.”

I hope you hear that God wants true connection and community for you too. That is why you were created. In this, He is ushering each one of us back to our hearts to understand our needs, which are basic human desires.

What are your desires, friend? What pain is keeping you from being able to step out in love to find community? Have you been searching for connection in people or things without first restoring your relationship with Jesus, your first love?

It is never too late to return to your first love. In Him is joy, peace, healing, and restoration. It can be so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and forget our desire for connection to the one who is the creator of our soul. Our hearts are wanting more, needing more, and we will continue to search until we allow ourselves to sit in the quiet space, which may be hard.

In this quiet space, we pray, “God, heal my mind, body, and soul so that I can have true community and connection first and foremost with You, and then with others around me who are looking for true authentic relationships.”

Elizabeth Selinger is a writer, faith-based coach, and Emotionally Focused Counselor. She has attended The University of Arizona for her bachelors in Psychology. She is currently attending Gateway Seminary to complete her Master of Arts Christian Counseling in December 2023. Elizabeth is passionate about helping people make sense of their trauma, relationships, and emotions to live a life of freedom in Christ and find their purpose.

Kingdom Leaders By Jessica Grace

Tue, 23 May 2023 02:17:57 GMT

They are the Paris Gellers from Gilmore Girls of the world...

Just because you know something doesn’t make you a leader. Think about it. We have all had people in our lives who have a lot of knowledge and yet have no idea how to explain or share it.

They are the Paris Gellers from Gilmore Girls of the world.

Amazing. Smart. Strong. Determined.

And we NEED THEM. Then we have had those who lead, explain and encourage clarity. They share their wisdom and do so without condemnation.

They WANT others to know the information, not just be known for the information they have. As believers, we are called to be kind, compassionate leaders and direct others well.

There are several kinds of leaders:

1. Thought leaders - Paris Gellers - the ones who push themselves and others to look at details and new ideas all the time.

2. Teaching leaders - those who can explain complex theories or ideas in a way that makes sense to anyone no matter the education or skill level.

3. Inspiration leaders - these leaders have such a powerful storytelling ability that they can relate, joke and make you cry, and give you the gumption to continue to fight when life gets hard.

4. Action leaders - tell them an idea, and there will be a plan with S.M.A.R.T. goals in your email by the end of the week.

5. Emotional leaders - these are the people who are, for the most part, really steady. They know how to identify and healthily process emotions.

As a multi-passionate entrepreneur who also loves Jesus, I want to be all of these leaders, but I do have certain ones I tend to lean into without realizing it because of how God designed me.

As believers, we are all leaders.

Every day, we all have the choice to step into our callings and the way God designed and led us and those around us.

And as leaders, we know this involves a conscious choice. Each day we have the choice to decide whether we will step into the leadership role God has given us. It won’t always be easy, and it certainly won’t always be recognized by others, but we are kingdom leaders.

Kingdom leaders follow the ultimate leader of life and surrender who they are and their callings to the one who called them. They choose to surrender in faith to become the leaders God has designed each of them to be.

The choice is yours; what will you pick?

God Is At Work Upstream By Hannah Rule

Tue, 23 May 2023 00:49:54 GMT

How can such a horrible situation bring any hope?

Twelve years ago, my father passed away suddenly after multiple strokes and a week in the Neuro ICU. He was 52 years old, and I was 22 in my last semester of undergraduate college. Calling this event devastating barely covers what his death did to our lives. We have never been the same physically, mentally, and spiritually. You may ask, “How can such a horrible situation bring any hope?” A wise friend of my father taught us that “God is at work upstream.”

My father was a juvenile probation officer and ordained youth pastor. He lived his life answering God’s call to love and guide teenagers. His best friend, Brian, worked with him in youth ministry and eventually became a licensed counselor.

Brian and my father had dreams of forming a church or counseling practice to serve others further, but that dream was short-lived. My father passed away suddenly, and while we lost a father and husband, Brian lost his best friend. Brian was an amazing support for my mother and all of us. Brian volunteered to take on my father’s youth group to help them through this devastating time of losing their youth pastor.

Through the first three months without my father, Brian slowly taught the group that no matter what was happening in the Bible, God was at work upstream. We can see throughout scripture that in any situation, God had a plan to use it for His glory. At the end of the book of Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery, thrown into prison, and eventually was made second in command to Pharaoh.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭50‬:‭20‬ ‭ESV‬

Joseph saved Egypt from succumbing to a terrible famine by interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. Egypt and the people of Israel were saved because God was working upstream.

Generations later, in the book of Exodus, Moses walked the Israelites out of slavery overcoming many obstacles through the power of God.

“And Moses said to the people, ‘Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.’” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Egyptians chased Moses and the Israelites, Moses parted the sea after they were led by a pillar of smoke and a pillar of fire, and only the Egyptians were swept away when the sea closed. God was working upstream.

Generations later, in the established Israelite nation, King David’s son, Solomon, built the temple where the priests would offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of the Israelite people and where the ark of the covenant would be held. This temple was built through the long journey of David and his children serving God and making many mistakes.

“ ‘You know that David, my father, could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.And so I intend to build a house for the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’” ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭5‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV ‬

Despite years of detours, enemies, and tragedy, the temple was still built through the line of David. God was working upstream. God was always working upstream. God appointed judges, kings, and prophets to lead the people of Israel, all while knowing they would continue to stray. God knew the ultimate sacrifice, His Son Jesus, would come and take the place of all sinners. “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,’” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ ‭ESV. After generations of straying from God, our Savior, Shepherd, and King had come to work the brokenness of the world out for good, God has been working upstream from the very beginning

Brian understood that none of us would ever understand why my father, such a loyal servant of God, compassionate friend, and faithful father and husband, passed away when he did. We still do not understand. But God is at work upstream. We are in the present, only seeing the part of the stream in front of us. We have no idea what is coming around the bend or even what the end of the stream looks like. We only see the effects of what is happening upstream.

Brian taught us that we can have hope in what God is doing upstream because while we may not understand, it is always for God’s glory. Later in life, Brian would officiate my wedding and preach at my ordination service. He became a mentor for me when I was thinking about changing careers. Tragically, Brian passed away last September 2021 at 52, the same age my father was when he passed. God worked through Brian not only for us but for so many for many years upstream.

Brian’s favorite scripture was repeated during the entire time he was in the hospital:

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Brian has left a legacy that I can still see God working through. God is still working upstream. Telling people to have hope in the middle of tragedy does little to comfort them, but assuring them that God has always walked beside and uplifted the oppressed and grieving can bring a glimmer of hope. Hope does not need all of the questions answered or everything to be made perfect.

Hope remains when we trust that God is still working even when we do not see any evidence. I will never understand why my father and Brian had to pass away early in their lives, but I have seen firsthand that God is at work upstream.

Faithful One By Beth Collins

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 18:55:37 GMT

I held my breath.

Not consciously, but time slowed at that moment, and I sat perfectly still. The early afternoon sun neared the horizon, and a gentle breeze blew through the green pines. The church campground had gone from a celebration of baptism with all of its excitement and promise to a settled and foreboding hush. Groups of men and women huddled in small groups to pray, children and teens moved about with an undirected air of quietness.

Three hours had passed since my father and other pastors from area churches moved to the waterfront with singing and prayer. It was the highlight of the yearly gathering of the district church. Mom, Dad, and I led the proceedings with music. Three-part harmony long learned from singing in church and evangelistic meetings throughout the year. Mom, a trained soprano, Dad a self-taught tenor, and me – filling in the gaps with a second harmony.

Pastors and new believers went in the water and came out until it was my father’s turn. He had a number of young people to baptize that year. God had blessed our church with a great group of enthusiastic youth, and on that day, eleven of them waited in line by the water’s edge to go out and “get dunked,” as they would say. I watched. I knew my father hadn’t been feeling well before the service, but there was nothing that could keep him from being in the middle of that celebration. He had long said that he wanted to die with his boots on, in the middle of serving the Lord. He would not let those youth down. He would not let his calling be silenced by a little unsettledness in the body.

That was my dad.

Larger than life, a lover of the Saviour, a servant of his calling. The last of the youth walked in, and my father followed. His breathing was irregular. Leaning on his friend, he asked for a lift up the hill from the lake, and Mort gladly assisted. Three minutes to the top of the hill, three minutes to see him collapse at the flag pole. Three minutes. Nothing in the span of eternity, but an eternity in the span of consequence. Moments are a blur. On-site nurses, sirens wailing, diligent paramedics, and the fading sight of tail-lights as my mom and dad were whisked away. I held my breath as the moments passed, but in my heart I knew. My dad was gone and I waited with the friends he had baptized.

Had we prayed? Had we hoped? Had we believed that God could do miracles? The answer is yes! Hundreds had prayed and hundreds had hoped but in the end, he had died.

Had God failed?

I have always remembered the wise words of my faith-filled mother on that night. My mother who had quit her career years 30 years previous to raise 5 children and work in the church. My mother who had relied solely on my father for income as they worked in the church together. My mother who lived in the parsonage of a church that now had no pastor, which made us homeless. My mother who arrived back at the camp, coming from the hospital after seeing my father lie lifeless on a table, to pick me up.

My mother, who in her calm but heartbroken voice looked at me and said, “Beth. An all wise God never makes mistakes, and we will trust him .” My widowed mom, in her moment of grief, reminded me of our God and His promises. She chose to look up and have faith.

She chose to trust and believe in the face of devastating news. And I – I look back and marvel. But more importantly, I look back and remember. I remember how those words and that spirit have shaped my life. I am blessed.

Job’s friend stated the obvious to him; amid his sufferings, he looked Job in the eye and said, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.”(Job 5:7). Wow! Those words were spoken over 25 centuries ago. Two thousand and five hundred years, and nothing has changed!

Life happens, relationships fail, people disappoint, plans go sideways, sickness takes loved ones, economies crash, and the list goes on. That’s where we live. In this world! Jesus himself reminded us that, “In this world, you will have trouble.” (Jn. 16:33), but, unlike Job’s comforter, he follows it up and says, “But take heart, I have overcome the world.” Life can be hard. Disappointment will be a part of it, and that is a certainty. But in the midst of it, please know and understand that you are not alone! Even when you wonder what God is doing.

Even when your earthly security is pulled out from under you. Even when you/we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we do not have to fear evil, because “The Lord is our shepherd! (Ps. 23) I am so very glad that I had the living example of my father and my faith-filled mom to speak trust into my life through all of life’s ups and downs. Listen again to her words and, even if you do not understand where God is right now, even if you do not know what He is doing or not doing, in the midst of your joy or your pain, hear the words. An all wise God never makes mistakes, and we will trust him. Honestly, I still don’t understand God sometimes. I sometimes wonder where He is. I often cannot see His plan no matter how hard I try. But what I do know is that some forty years on from that day at the campground, my God has been faithful and He has not failed his promises. My job is to trust. His job is to be God.

Thanks, mom, and thank you God for your faithfulness through the darkest times in life.

Reach out to Beth at beth@tailoredcoaching.ca

Being Teachable By Casey Wayne

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:00:26 GMT

I love to learn. By most people's standards, I was a successful student and had a strong desire to go to school without missing any days.

If there is something I really want to do but do not know how to do it, I can become determined to figure it out and do it on my own. Raised to be independent, I can also become unwilling to let people help me or give up control. So in my early adulthood, while getting a teaching degree, this quote from Socrates stood out to me, "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." The importance of humility and that learning is an unending endeavor was planted in my mind.

As I entered my teaching years, my thoughts on learning developed. My heart quickly wrapped around the idea that progress is more important than perfection.

As a former teacher, I have used various strategies to reach a wide spectrum of students and taught multiple grades, skill levels, and subjects. Some students are natural learners like I was, and others can struggle with a topic or even with all of the content. However, the most significant factor in a student's ability to progress with their learning is how willing they are to be taught and participate in the learning process. Through my career shift from teacher to stay-at-home Mom and eventually becoming a faith-based writer, God has opened my eyes to how all that applies to our faith walk. He has drawn me to the significance of being teachable and that we cannot expect Spiritual growth if we do not pursue it.

2 Timothy 3:16-17(NLT) says,

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

He has drawn me to the significance of being teachable and that we cannot expect Spiritual growth if we do not pursue it.

God does not call us to sit in our salvation. Instead, scripture says to actively seek God's wisdom and guidance (Proverbs 3:5-6). There is always room for growth and wisdom to glean from God's Word.

To live a life for Christ, we must intentionally pursue a life like Christ. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul expressed his hope and prayer that the church would continually seek to grow and learn. In Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT), Paul says, "So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better."

Learning and growing in our faith requires a commitment to always strive for progress, not perfection. It places Jesus as Lord over our daily lives, giving Him the space to work in and through our hearts. We must be humble enough to recognize that God is in control and trust His faithful provision.

As we wake up every morning, we must intentionally seek ways to grow our faith by prioritizing our time and choosing to connect with Jesus. We cannot be passive bystanders in our spiritual growth. Our Father wants to have a deep, consistent relationship with us. We shouldn't just sprinkle God into our lives when we feel like it. Man, have I been guilty of that! However, our feelings are deceiving, and Satan will use them against us.

God desires to deepen our relationship with Him. He wants us to seek His will and grow our faithfulness toward our Creator. Our heavenly Father has all we need if we only surrender it to Him. But in the end, just like the students who used to enter the doors of my classroom, we cannot be taught if we are not willing to be teachable.

Sometimes There Are No Words By Kim Gomez

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 17:40:57 GMT

It's Summer 2021. Perhaps you remember the image that went viral when the US helped evacuate Afghanistan.

It's Summer 2021. Perhaps you remember the image that went viral when the US helped evacuate Afghanistan. The image was of a tiny baby being passed over a razor wire wall to an American Marine amid total panic and chaos at the Kabul Airport.

The evening I saw that image on the news, I literally could not get it out of my mind. I looked long and hard at that image, and my heart kept breaking. I went silent. I couldn't talk to my husband about it, even when he repeatedly asked me what was the matter.

I couldn't even speak to God. I had no words to pray. Our emotions are wildly complex, filled with more depth than any combination of words can communicate. I imagined myself being the mother of that baby and the desperation she must have felt. Frantically lifting my daughter over that wall into the hands of a complete stranger?

Unfathomable.

That entire evening and through the night, my mind was on the situation in Afghanistan.

I couldn't comprehend the "why." That's a question I ask God often.

Why? But in the asking, there were no answers. So, I decided not to pray with words but with the posture of my heart, knowing that God sees and knows my heart. I intentionally allowed my heart to feel the

Sadness

Panic

Pain

Confusion

Desperation

Hope

that the baby was safe It was a silent prayer. I was praying from the center of my heart to the center of God's heart. I surrendered my words in order to be simply and silently in His presence. It was prayer based on relationship and trust - not on my demands.

I definitely didn't know what He was doing, but I did know that He is Good and He is Sovereign.

It was still dark when I got up the following day and headed to the ocean. It was a short walk from my house, and as I walked in the dark toward the sunrise, all the pastel colors lit the sky. It was so beautiful. I stepped onto the sand and walked down towards the water.

With every step, I felt something shifting inside of me. When my feet splashed into the warm, clear saltwater, I can only describe it as a moment of full-on Glory. The combination of the water, the air, the sky, and the sun were spectacular. And that's because our God is spectacular. That was a touchstone reminder that He knows even when we can't speak, He knows the posture of our hearts.

Community Is Key By Melissa Heerebout

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 17:30:06 GMT

In the late 90s, a song called the Heart of Worship was released.

And if you’ve been in church for any period, I’m sure you’ve heard this song and sung a long with the lyrics:

“ I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing. I’ve made it when it’s all about you. It’s all about you, Jesus".

When this song came out, they were mostly talking about worship and how we interact with the songs we sing. It was a deeper call for not just lip service to God but for a lifestyle of worship. I spent two days with our youth this past weekend on Vancouver Island. During our staff devotionals we sang that song and, our speaker for the weekend, Michael Chinchilla, challenged us to think about prayer in the same fashion. What are we making prayer all about? Is it all about my personal requests or is it something deeper?

Sitting together as a staff, we looked at the Lord's prayer and at how Jesus taught us to pray.

Something new stood out to me.

Matthew 6:9-13 (CBS)

The Lord’s Prayer

“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honoured as holy.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

What stood to me was the use of the pronoun “our”:

Our father

Our daily bread

Our debts

Our debtors

Then also the use of the word “us”:

Give us our daily bread.

Forgive us,

bring us not into temptation,

but deliver us .

As we looked at this prayer, I couldn’t help but think about community life. Because the Lord’s prayer doesn’t say my father, my daily bread, my debt, it says our father, our daily bread, our debts.

Our Christian life is supposed to be done in community, and even in prayer Jesus was teaching us that.

These last few years have been isolating, and we are just figuring out how to come back together. Living life in community is a muscle that we have to remember how to use.

Watching 150 kids this past weekend learn about Jesus, be loud, have camp crushes, worship their hearts out, have fun, and just be teenagers reminded me how much we need to do life together. Community is key, and it’s vital. As Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s prayer, I think he also highlighted that.

Life is not a solo sport.

Find a local church and dive in.

The Practice Of Prayer By Jenna Tulman

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 07:12:05 GMT

Spiritual practices have enriched my life these past few years,

Spiritual practices have enriched my life these past few years, especially those that invite me into prayer. I love quieting myself before God, listening to His voice, and feeling His presence daily. Here are a few practices that have pulled me closer to God, and I write about them in hopes that they will pull you close to Him as well. The first is praying with beads; this practice differs from the Catholic Church's rosary. These beads in themself aren't special or spiritual. They are simply a tactile tool that I like to use. I picked out five wooded beads, each with a different shape and size, and I carefully wrote an emotion on each one: joy, sadness, anger, love, and peace. One by one, I roll each bead in my hand, and while I move the bead through my fingers, I tell God about a moment I felt that emotion during the week. Then, I invite Him into each emotion, asking Him to be with me every moment.

Another prayer practice that I love is imagination prayer. In this practice, I choose a story from one of the Gospels, taking Jesus feeding the 5000 as an example. As I read the passage, I slow down to imagine myself being present in the story. I ask myself questions like, "what am I feeling as I experience the miracle of the bread and the fish?" or, "what is it like seeing Jesus and being present with Him while He teaches?" I imagine feeling the grass beneath my feet, the fresh breeze on my face, and the bread filling my stomach. I allow myself to slow down and experience the story; as I do, I ask God what He is teaching me. I pay attention to where my imagination leads me and invite God to speak to me. In the letter to the Philippians, we are reminded that we can pray about everything, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God," (Philippians 4:6 ESV). What a beautiful thought. We can make all our requests known to God. I've started going for walks in the morning, and I tell God about everything as I walk. I share my hopes and dreams with Him, ask for His grace and forgiveness, and invite Him into each moment. During these times, I hear His tender voice, the clearest.

Prayer is a gift, and it's the ability to talk to God as we would a friend. God cares dearly for us and invites us into a relationship with Himself. Two verses come to mind as I reflect on prayer. The first is from Revelation 3:20 ESV, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me." Jesus is standing at the door and knocking, and all who open the door will be with Him. I love this, I love the idea of Jesus inviting every one of us into a relationship with Him, and I love that we simply need to respond. God doesn't make it complicated. He simply wants us to know Him as a friend. The second verse that came to mind is Psalm 141:2 ESV, "Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!" As I read this verse, I imagine my prayers rising as incense. The thing about incense is that it's pleasing; I picture my essential oils filling the room with sweet smells in the morning. Our prayers rise to God, and they please Him. Friends, God loves to hear your voice.

Let me share with you one last practice, the practice of life journaling. What I love about life journaling is that there isn't a right or wrong way to do it. You simply need your Bible and your journal. As you read your Bible, pay attention to what verses jump out at you and then write them down. Ask God to speak to you about what he's teaching you through His Word. Journal what God is saying to you, and journal your prayers.

If you'd like more structure, use the acronym SOAP (scripture, observation, application, prayer) or SHAPE (scripture, hearing God, application, prayer, exalting God). Allow God to speak to you through His written Word. Finally, let me pray for you, dear sister. Father, thank you for knowing each one of us so intimately. Your love is deeper than we'll ever know. Thank you for standing at the door and knocking and for inviting us to know you more and more. Open our hearts to your voice and teach us to grow closer to you. Amen

Pray Earnestly By Chelsea O'Rourke

Sat, 12 Nov 2022 06:58:08 GMT

I had lost him. Hands grasping my knees and tears pouring down my face,

I sat in our home office, desperate. Defeated. The weight of it pressed on my heart as I faced the reality of my inability to save him from himself. Sleepovers in my room since we were tiny, pretend games of lion cubs, adventures in the mountains, talks of girls, and growing up. He was my brother, but also my friend. Drugs had won him over. Sleeping and living somewhere in the riverbeds an hour away. I knew I couldn't bring along two toddlers and a baby in a hunt among the homeless and drug addicts searching for him. We'd pass many homeless as we drove by certain areas of the city, and my eyes would scan for the person I once knew.

It's a strange thing grieving the living. "Jesus," I cried out in pain that morning, "I can't reach him, and he doesn't receive my texts or emails. I want him to know that I love him, miss him, and that You, Father, are with him. I'm frustrated, God, and I can't talk with him, find him, or simply tell him I love him. Oh Jesus. I'm unable to do anything." "It's true," He responded. "You cannot do anything in your own strength. He doesn't need you to find him in the riverbed, and he needs me. Pray," he said. "It's not a secondary action to take when you are in a place out of options, and it's the primary form of warfare. And your prayers are powerful."

That morning changed everything.

James 5:16-18 reminds us of the impact of prayer:

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. Elijah was a man just like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops."

Elijah was a man just like us, and he prayed earnestly and the physical realities of earth were altered! We are reminded to do the same thing - pray earnestly- and see the kingdom of God impact and alter the earthly realities of our lives.

In desperation, I cried out to God. I had nowhere else to go. And nothing else I could do for him. So I prayed. Why is prayer so often our last resort, where we go when we are empty and out of options?" The Holy Spirit began to teach me a new way to see prayer - as a powerful, offensive weapon in the kingdom of God. Instead of prayer being the final hope when I am unable to do more, it became front-line warfare. Prayer is a place for gaining ground, with a mindset of power and faith in the one who brings the victory.

My heart entered into prayer as if I were a soldier entering the heat of the battle. He reminded me that prayer is a mysterious, power-filled way of living that moves mountains and sets captives free. During this season, I gathered others around me to fast together and fight on behalf of my brother. We would fast together every Monday for a year, not just for my brother but for the loved ones of others trapped in addiction as well.

Prayer and fasting are not empty spiritual disciplines for monks, nuns, pastors, and spiritual leaders. Prayer and fasting are a power combination reflecting the heart of those hungry for God to move. Knowing the Holy Spirit brings change and victory for those who take a posture of humility. We show up to the battle, but through prayer and fasting, we recognize that He brings the victory. Like Gideon, we obey and ask for help, and the Spirit moves in power to deliver His people. This season birthed another gift in my life. So often, I found a depth of feelings in my Spirit for what I wanted to pray that the words in my head fell short to match.

My desire for Jesus and for Him to reach my brother was more profound than I had words to express. I came to the end of myself yet again, even as I prayed. There was a burning inside that couldn't escape. I asked for the Holy Spirit to intercede with wordless groaning, as Romans 8:26 tells us. And I also asked for my own form of a spiritual wordless language with which to contend and to reflect the internal battle of my heart.

One morning, in my bedroom's privacy and in our savior's presence, I cried out again. In tears, I went to war in prayer. Again my words fell short of my longing. In this private intimate space my Spirit was filled with His and little utterances floated out of my mouth from deep within my soul. It didn't sound like much, and it was more like timid whispers instead of a war cry. But they were whispers of faith, and prayer in faith is a force that moves mountains. Believe this, sister: What we bring to the father with a heart of faith - no matter the size of our mustard seed - has the power to change outcomes and free hearts, and set fires ablaze for the kingdom of God.

Returning to my brother and our Monday fasting, we had officially fasted together just one Monday when my mom called. "Chelsea, he's been arrested." Listen, this isn't really all I had hoped for. I was dreaming more of an instant and permanent miraculous deliverance. His ways are not my own. It may be strange to hear, but this was a relief and an answer to prayer.

During a phone call from jail one day, my brother shared with me how he knew the Monday prayer and fasting were connected to his arrest. It forced sobriety and removed him from a homeless life. It was a reset opportunity for his mind to be cleared. I wish this was the end of the story. That he's been sober ever since and now serves in freedom ministry at a church, but it's not. We are continuing to intercede with scripture, with wordless groans, fasting, and believing in faith for full healing and recovery. Deeper than before, I can enter into seasons of fasting and intercession fueled by faith. Not out of hopeless desperation but a faith-filled dependency on the power only Jesus has to set captives free.

Child Of God By Katie Nelson

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 23:03:12 GMT

It’s taken me a long time to confidently believe in God’s goodness.

There’s a song by the band Cain that says, “On my best day, I’m a child of God, on my worst day, I’m a child of God… I’m so blessed.” I’ve grown incredibly grateful that this is true. I have experienced extremely difficult days, and I’ve had some amazing days. Life can sometimes feel like a rollercoaster taking sudden twists and turns - yanking you one direction and then suddenly spinning you the other way. One day you have your hands thrown in the air with carefree abandon, and the next, you’re hanging on for dear life. I became a Christian when I was 16, and as a young Christian, I had this overwhelming fear of being alone. I fell in love with the idea that God would write an amazing love story for me. Then, it wasn’t happening. I saw friends dating, getting engaged in college, and then getting married right after. I felt like God had forgotten me.

I know that’s not a life-or-death situation, but I’ve been disappointed in the face of some of those challenges. A few years into my faith journey, I remember praying and praying for God to heal someone, only to have them pass away days later. My trust and faith in God were shaken. I experienced a deep depression after that. Was God not as good as I thought? Even when I’ve doubted and questioned, He’s never let me go. There have been times when I’ve been hanging by a thread. I’ve ignored His guidance and went my own way more than I’d like to admit. But, His love and devotion are strong.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “This eternal everlasting God has become our Father, and the moment we realize that, everything tends to change. He is our Father, and He is always caring for us, He loves us with an everlasting love, He so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son into the world and to the Cross to die for our sins. That is our relationship to God and the moment we realize it, it transforms everything.”

I know that life isn’t going to get easier. There will always be ups and downs, joy and sorrow, gain and loss. But, I hope I will always rest in the fact that God is my Heavenly Father. The band Cain ends the song by singing, “It doesn’t matter about the rest. I’ve got you, Lord, hallelujah I’m blessed.” Sometimes I have to remind my heart of that truth, but it still stands. As a child of God, I’m so blessed. Thank you, Lord.

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GRATITUDE IN NEED BY COURTNEY MCEVER

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 22:56:03 GMT

I woke up that morning off. Focused on me.

I woke up that morning off. Focused on me. Focused on my load and focused on my to-do's, and my busting-at-the-seams schedule. I was concentrating on the hard, draining people that my path would cross and focused on measuring my strength, ability, reservoirs, resources, and energy against this monster day and falling short. Way, way, waaaaaaay, short. The taunting question that sinisterly shouted at me in surround sound, "DO I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TODAY?" was quickly followed by a resounding, "NOT EVEN CLOSE."

"Why am I so off, God?" I asked. The answer came quick, "What if you're not?" This answer felt almost offensive. What if I'm not??? What about this anxious, frenzied, needy, inadequate ball of chaos that is me right now was NOT OFF?! The response came quickly again, "Why does needing mean you are off? Why does not having enough mean you are at fault? The hallmark of a Saint isn't piety. It's need." Mic drop. God- 1. My whiney excuses, complaints, and worries- 0. Need. This word has a tremendously negative connotation in our culture, particularly for women. Listen, and you'll hear its overtones touch everything from our relationships to our emotions, bodies, business savvy, intelligence, domestic powerlessness, and fashion sense.

"She needs a lot of help. She's so needy. She was an exceptionally needy child. She needs too much from me. My ex-girlfriend was annoyingly needy. She needed extra time on her test. She needs extra help with that dish for Thanksgiving dinner. Please help her with her outfit. She needs to lose weight. I had to step back from that friendship because she was too needy. Her needs overwhelmed me."

She needs... It is never a compliment.

Dear sisters, we are conditioned by this message, and it sinks deeply into our souls, leaving a profound stain.

In the converse, not needing is seen as a hallmark of strength, skill, and resilience. It is something to be celebrated, eliciting admiration and awe.

She did it all herself! She designed it herself. She watched a DIY video on YouTube and did it herself… fixed it herself…. went by herself….built it herself….ran it herself… decorated it herself…built the company herself…changed the tire herself…painted it herself. Applause. Praise. Approval. Validation. Esteem.

I acknowledge these attitudes didn't appear out of thin air. Yes, being a responsible, hardworking, emotionally healthy woman is wise. Yes, it is admirable to see abilities, talents, and gifts displayed. Still, the point here is to examine how these mindsets have stamped themselves on our perspective toward God.

We can all, on some level, talk about our needs concerning God, but under the surface, do we still secretly loathe our need? Do we really wish our need wasn't there? Does our need shame us? What if we start viewing our needs in Christ as a good thing, a positive, a bonus? Dare I say what if we had gratitude for our need?

GRATITUDE in need. Why we can:

NEED means I am a human. "The Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life." Job 33:4

NEED means God is God. "Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Psalm 100:3

NEED connects us to the mercy of Jesus. "For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Hebrews 2:17-18

NEED is the conduit through which the power of Christ flows through us. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

What if instead of cringing at our need, we embraced it with joy and hearts overflowing in praise? What if we woke up each morning and proclaimed:

Jesus, thank you that I need today.

Jesus, thank you that my need connects me to you.

Jesus, thank you that I need your peace. Jesus, I need your energy.

Jesus, I need your self-control.

Jesus, I need your protection.

Jesus, thank you that I need your love for the unlovable.

Jesus, thank you that I need your help to completely forgive.

Jesus, thank you that I need your perseverance.

Jesus, thank you that I need your hope.

Jesus, thank you that I need your freedom.

Jesus, thank you that I need your healing.

Jesus, thank you that I need your single-mindedness to only focus on the things you have for me.

Jesus, thank you that I need your help.

Jesus, thank you that I need your perseverance.

Jesus, thank you that I need your kindness.

Jesus, thank you that I need your patience.

Jesus, thank you that I need your confidence.

Jesus, thank you that I need your grace.

Jesus thank you that I need your poise.

Jesus, thank you that I need your strength.

Dear sisters, let us together hold hands, and instead of looking inside ourselves, at ourselves, around ourselves, behind ourselves, and ahead of ourselves, let us look up and, with spirits of gratitude and praise, "make music and sing…. ALL my fountains (sources, springs of life) are in YOU!" (Psalm 87:7)

Do you feel the freedom? Do you feel the divine ease? These things are ours in Christ. So praise Him for your need today and watch His power manifest through it. Prayer: Jesus, give us gratitude in our need so that your power may rest on us. Please forgive us for our petty, small, self-focused thinking. We long to live supernaturally unexplainable, God-sized, expansive lives that pour your grace, beauty, and power out into the world. Let gratitude in our need free us up to run towards the good things you have stored up for us. Let gratitude for our needs grant us freedom that radiates and shines for you. Amen

In The Middle By Nina Burnet

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 22:44:43 GMT

Have you ever experienced the strain of being "in the middle"?

In the middle of "not yet," a season of unknowns, or just in the middle of a good ol' personal crisis?

I have.

I watched many of my close friends and family get married and have kids while I struggled in my dating life. I felt fear and ache when someone close to me went missing. I have felt my body struggle under an unknown diagnosis. I sang to my newborn daughter in the middle of the night, not knowing if she could actually hear me trying to comfort her. We have all experienced the undeniably intense strain of being in the middle, stretched like rubber bands, feeling like we are about to fling out of God's hands into the abyss. Or maybe just feeling like we are going to snap altogether.

For years I would pray through these situations, asking God to fix them and asking Him to give me relief and ease the tension, asking Him to rescue me so I could finally relax and be fully present in my life. In one such situation, after visiting the counsellor and feeling the need to process something, I headed to a nearby park to journal. I sat down and was instantly distracted by the tiny daisies that frequent the parks in the greater Vancouver area. I picked a few and rolled onto my back to feel the sun on my face. It was very bright, so I took my ballpoint pen and held it up, and for a moment, it blocked out the sun. A pen blocked out the sun. Of course, it couldn't block the light out, but for a moment, I contemplated how something so tiny could cover up something so huge. And I realized it's all about perspective. Life is so full of troubles, and if I held back living amid a stretching time, I would probably miss most of my life. And I would inevitably miss out on the good God had for me in the midst of it all.

When we find ourselves stretched in the in-between, it is so essential that we redirect our perspective off of the uncertainty and back on to the truth of who God is. If God never changes, then who He was in the midst of past struggles is who He is now and who He will continue to be: loving, faithful, present, kind, good, and so much more. Remembering this can give us the strength to survive the stretch. And choosing to be thankful for who He's been will increase your hope and joy so you can move towards thriving in the midst of it.

If you are new to your walk with Christ and don't have a long shared history with Him to look back on, I encourage you to seek out Godly sisters/mothers/aunts who can lend you their faith through their own experiences. I would also encourage you to look at how God has been faithful to His people since the beginning of time (Joshua 21:45; Psalm 119:90; Hebrews 11; etc). I don't know how you are being stretched today and I don't know what unimaginable pain you may be facing, but I pray that the Holy Spirit would bring just one memory to mind that would strengthen and realign your perspective on Christ. If you can, take a moment to do that right now. Did a memory come to mind? If it did, write it on a piece of paper and tape it somewhere visible in your home.

Now whenever you see it, I encourage you to thank Him for being with you. Praise & meditate on Him (see the song list on the next page if you want some inspiration). Put your trust in Him again and again, and know, if there is a time where you step out of that hard situation, that He will be with you in the next one, and the one after that, until you see Him face to face. Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of Earth Will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace -Helen Lemmel -

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Marked By Gratitude By Melissa Heerebout

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 22:37:20 GMT

Happy Birthday rang out. Between my husband, my kids, my family and friends, I felt so incredibly loved.

Happy Birthday rang out. Between my husband, my kids, my family and friends, I felt so incredibly loved. Messages, social media posts, hand-delivered flowers, gifts and my favourite strawberry-rhubarb pie, I ate the whole thing,) were all loving and thoughtfully given to me. I sat down to reflect on turning 42 and knew what I wanted most. I thought about the coming year and what it might hold for me. In my journal, I wrote that I wanted to be a woman marked by gratitude. Being grateful changes perspectives. When I pause in the middle of a moment of complaining and choose to find something to be thankful for, it helps me process the moment that I am experiencing. I want to be a person who sees the gifts in my life and then passes that attitude on to others. Choosing gratefulness means choosing happiness.

In Harvard Health they say: “The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. In some ways, gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, being grateful also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power. Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.” (Harvard Health Article)

As believers we understand that we are connected to something larger. And so sometimes we can get stuck in the middle of messes. That’s when I need to flip my perspective and view my world through the Holy Spirit instead of through my problems.

A number of years ago I was struggling to see things at a distance. Over the years reading signs at the grocery store, the screen at church and even some road signs were becoming a bit fussy. I finally booked an appointment with the optometrist.

The first time I put on my new glasses, it was like I was seeing things in high definition. I was shocked at how well I could see. For years I had been used to squinting or making other adjustments, and all I needed was the new perspective that my glasses gave me. That’s what the Holy Spirit can do for us. It’s like a pair of glasses that help us see the world from a new perspective. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us glasses of gratitude and the mindset to seek out thankfulness throughout our day. These verses in 1 Thessalonians 5 are packed with practical applications of how to live out our journey.

15 See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.20 Don’t despise prophecies, 19 Don’t stifle the Spirit. 21 but test all things. Hold on to what is good.

Such good stuff in these seven verses from 1 Thessalonians 5:15-21

Pursue good
Rejoice Pray
Give thanks
Listen to others
Listen to the Spirit
Be Wise (test all things)
Hold to what is good

Doing these eight things on a regular basis is going to lead to a more fulfilled life because we are viewing our world through the Holy Spirit. I know that if I live out these eight actions in my life I will be a woman marked by gratitude.

Melissa is a pastor, writer, public speaker, lover of Jesus, coffee and all things creative! She is the founder of Dear Sisters and loves supporting writers and inspiring others in their faith journey. She resides just outside Vancouver, BC, with her husband of 20 years and their three amazing kids!

Gratitude for God’s Great Gift in Community By Olivia Warner

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 22:28:15 GMT

"Is the gift of God any less immeasurably great than this on any given day, even on the most difficult and distressing days of a Christian community?”

The question sank into the pit of my stomach. You know that place where conviction hits like a punch to the gut? It settled right there as I felt my heart being nudged by the Holy Spirit. I was reading Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in search of some kind of tip or truth to pull me out of the funk I felt I was having in my relationships. On any given day, I was full of complaints and criticisms, and I had a laundry list of my unmet expectations and hurt I was harboring from feeling rejected and ignored by others. But reading Bonhoeffer’s words flipped the narrative in my head. Suddenly, my bold pronouncements of where community was failing me quieted on my lips. While it was true that the people around me were imperfect, it was also true that any community I had was a gift from God. I was lost in my relational wishlist and building a case for why I had been failed, and I felt entitled to gripe about it.

Community wasn’t measuring up to my expectations, which frustrated me, leading to questions about what God was doing. Yet when I was confronted with the truth that any community is a blessing from Him, I was forced to reckon with my attitude. I had experienced plenty of great days in Christian community, but I wasn’t ready to put the hard work in when the tough ones came. I just wanted life always to go smoothly and feel satisfying, with some kumbaya attitude making us all get along. That’s not a healthy way to live, nor is it fair. If I wanted to keep score of how often others fell short, then I needed to track just as closely all the times they served and loved me well. Going further, I ought to have acknowledged my own sins and weaknesses that I brought to these relationships too.

As long as I was unwilling to consider all that, I remained stuck in my point of view and trapped by my discontentment. I was convicted because there wasn’t any sense of appreciation in my heart, even though I had to acknowledge God’s provision of community for me in many ways. Maybe it wasn’t always exactly what I wanted or expected, but He had come through plenty of times.

And as imperfect as my relationships seemed to me, if I was honest, I could admit I still had some support and encouragement from others. Bonhoeffer challenged me to reflect on God’s gift to me and practice thankfulness. I started making note of all the ways I had experienced positive community and thanked Him for what I had.

I want to say that my whole perspective shifted immediately, and all my friendship woes were solved, but that wouldn’t be the whole truth. The reality is that true heart transformation takes time and slow, intentional work. But gratitude was the tool that helped me gradually chip away at my bitterness and begin to experience peace and joy. The more I looked for the positives around me, the easier they were to see and the better I felt. While my whiny pity parties had felt good at the moment, they did little to help me in the long run. Instead, they became a pattern of complaining that was hard to break and made me isolated from others.

I was waiting for the next failure by someone else, and other’s actions completely dictated my whole outlook. Gratitude helped me extend grace to others and have a more balanced view of my circumstances. Complaining made me self-righteous, impatient, and judgmental. Thankfulness helped me start to let go and recognize God’s hand at work, even in hard situations. I still struggle at times with a “this isn’t good enough” mindset, but I’m continuing to work on it.When I slip back into bemoaning my circumstances, I’m a bit quicker to shift my gaze and see the good.

I keep returning to God asking for His help and trying to thank Him for even the smallest blessings. My attitude of gratitude is a work in progress, and maybe yours is too. We all wish relationships were easier, or we could wave a magic wand to make all conflict disappear. But that’s not our reality, and if we are readily accepting of community when it blesses us, maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it the moment it’s complicated or inconvenient. It’s not easy, friend, but may we remind ourselves that God’s gift is no less immeasurably great today than on our best days in community and decide to praise Him no matter what.

Olivia lives in Greenbelt, MD just outside DC with her husband Jimmy. Much of her life revolves around writing or communicating in some capacity whether as a public health communications consultant at work, microblogger on Instagram, or chatty extrovert. She has a passion for serving in the local church and being a friend for people like you looking to grow in their faith. If you’d like to connect and find support to love Jesus more during life’s transitions and challenges, you can find Olivia on Instagram @on.ascent.

Unfiltered Faith and Thankfulness in The Mundane By Jenny Warfield

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 22:19:20 GMT

In the midsts of the unknown or the seasons of change, we can still be thankful.

In the midsts of the unknown or the seasons of change, we can still be thankful. Two years ago, in September of 2020, my husband was hit head-on. The worst call I had ever received, but thankfully I heard my husband’s voice on the other end of that phone instead of an emergency responder. His truck was so old that it didn’t have airbags, but he survived with only a broken tibia and fibula. I rushed to his side. Thankfully it was only a few minutes away from our house. It was hard for me to see him hurt, and it was heartbreaking to see him struggle with even ordinary things, both physically and emotionally. I carried all the weight of helping him physically and emotionally, along with everything else. I can’t imagine the sadness in God’s eyes when He sees His child get hurt. He was out of work for about six months, and so was I. It was a tough time for us both. At the time, we didn’t know how we were going to eat and pay our bills. Through the mighty grace of God, we had enough food, never paid any of our bills late, and never once used a credit card. Some people might not understand, and sometimes we reflect on it without full comprehension besides “but God.” We are forever grateful for that and the many times we have seen God work in our lives.

It was incredible to see the hands of God during that time in our lives and to see Him move through our time of trouble. I remember people messaging me on Instagram about how blessed they were to hear our story. As Christians, we rarely want to talk about our troubles, but I shared on Instagram and received messages about how our faith and gratitude blessed them. Even when you are in the midst of a storm, God will bless it.

Often we tend to overcomplicate the small and the simple. We do this in our Bible studies, with praying, in our homes, and even in our faith. Today, we can get too caught up in our homes looking like they came right out of an Instagram post and busy striving for it to be “Pinterest-worthy.” Have we lost sight of what genuinely matters inside of the home? Now, there’s nothing wrong with making your house cozy. But it can go too far when we go crazy about the paint colour on the walls or the next trend for the fireplace. That is when we lose focus on the things we are thankful for. It doesn’t matter what our house looks like if we don’t care about what fills the home.

The people inside and all those who enter, serving with love, and hospitality, are important. However, our number one goal should be to always strive to make sure our home is Christ-filled. There cannot be peace if God isn’t in it. We all have gone through tough times, and even times, we have tried to do something without God in it. Talk about some rough waters.

Not every season we go through, and every trial we face will be smooth sailing. But there will be peace when we trust and rely on God to help us through. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” - Psalm 46:10 Think about a fresh apple pie baking in the house on a crisp fall morning—the rays of the sunshine glow against the floor and your kitchen table. You can know just by the aroma that an apple pie is in the oven. It feels cozy and warm, right? To me, that is what God’s peace feels like. The warmth from the morning sun rays and the aroma of a freshly baked apple pie on a fall day. It gives a sense of “home” not only in our house but in our hearts as well. Often we can let society fill our minds with trends and slogans more than we have let the Word of God fill our minds. Reading the Bible and studying it thoroughly can be challenging; sometimes, it feels like a defeating task.

For me, I realize I overcomplicate just reading the Word itself, and I thought I needed to spend hours digging deep into every word of scripture.It is wonderful to do when I have the opportunity, but sometimes we need to dial it back and grab a Bible to dig into. Prayer should be a daily thing for us as Christians, and with our to-do lists, sometimes it feels like it gets swept under the rug. Finding time to write down my thoughts and prayer gives me more focus on actually praying. I need to put away all distractions and just take a few minutes to talk to God. Some days the prayers can be nothing but sitting still in God’s presence, and other days the Lord hears your cry with your tears. Prayers don’t have to be a whole sermon. They just have to be from the heart.

We have to fully rely on God with every ounce of our being and have faith. There were times our faith wasn’t as big as the grand canyon, but small faith can still move mountains. Even in times of stress, God will make a way. We can still praise God for all we have through our mundane tasks daily in our homes, jobs, and family. Before, during, and after, we go through something that strengthens us.

“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” - Matthew 17:20

We can be as thankful in the small as we can be thankful in the big. May we never stop praising Him through the blessings and through storms. God deserves our thankfulness, and we don’t deserve even a fraction of what we have. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 I challenge you to reflect on what you’ve been through and what you have now, then give Him thanks for it all. Everything that we have, our home, our jobs, our money, our family, the list goes on.

I’m Jenny, married to my best friend for four years, and I’m a multi-passionate creative/entrepreneur. From being an author of a Christian faith-based book to being the founder of my faith-filled and Jesus-centered community, Servant hearted sisterhood. I love being able to encourage women and to also serve my clients with all things social media and fulfilling my God-given purpose through it all!

The Promised Anchor By Hannah Rule

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 22:07:58 GMT

Are you desperately trying to tread water but are being crushed by massive waves?

You aren’t alone. A little bit about me: I’m a helper. I help my family, friends, coworkers, strangers, people in need, etc. This would be why I am starting my second career as a counsellor when I finish my Master’s in Clinical Mental Health degree at 35 next year. I have this pull, this passion for walking next to others in their valleys and helping in any way I can. The problem with this? Helping others is morphing my identity into a helper instead of a witness of what Jesus has done in my life, and burn out. Lots of burn out. It has become really hard to help everyone I see when I have extra weights that I don’t usually carry around.

I’m currently a full-time graduate student, counselling intern, part-time behavioural aide to foster children, newly married wife, daughter helping my mother through a difficult year, and a woman grieving the death of a man that became her second father. I’m holding a lot of weight, and I don’t think treading water is going to work anymore. I need an anchor. Google gave me a great anchor definition that I never thought of before.

/ anchor / a person or thing that provides stability or confidence in an otherwise uncertain situation.

Remember that feeling of treading water but can’t hold your head above the crashing waves? Sometimes, the waves never stop coming and depending on how strong the waves are, you may never get solid footing. I looked for a solid foundation to plant my feet in my marriage, friends, hobbies, and small vacations. Unfortunately, these were not lasting foundations even though they helped for a brief moment. I needed to feel grounded.

We sang this song at church recently, Promises by Maverick City, and these lyrics stopped me in my tracks: “I put my faith in Jesus My anchor to the ground My hope and firm foundation He'll never let me down” I got this clear picture in my head of a strong anchor holding a large ship in the raging sea. The waves hit the ship, but they did not overtake it. I realized I wasn’t looking for something to carry all the weight, I was looking for an anchor for my weary soul. I was then reminded of this scripture:

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews‬ ‭6:19-20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This got me thinking more about anchors. Did you know that anchors are not pretty? They are rusty, covered in seaweed, and banged up. They go through a lot to hold a ship steady. But they’re strong, and they last. That is the kind of solid foundation I need right now: one that can take the crashing waves of grief, anxiety, and sorrow and not break under pressure. My anchor has not been Jesus, and I think that may be one of the reasons why I can’t find my footing. He is the firm foundation that will take on the waves and the muck to keep me grounded, but I have to trust in my Anchor. Another week has started. Are you being tossed around by the angry sea? Find your Anchor. Hold on for dear life. He’ll never let you down.

Count It All Joy: Gratitude In the Hard Seasons of Life By Jenna Tulman

Sun, 09 Oct 2022 21:53:34 GMT

As I hold my newborn son in my arms,

feeling the smooth movement of the rocking chair rock back and forth, back and forth, I feel the warmth of gratitude fill my heart. October last year looked much different for my husband and me; we were sitting on a patio at a winter resort, sipping wine, watching the snowfall by the fire, and appearing to have it all together as our hearts broke. We were processing the loss of our third miscarriage and wondering if we’d ever experience the joy of holding our own baby.

The heaviness of our heartbreak hung in the air. We had dreams that didn't seem possible, and our hopes were starting to die. Everything within us was focused on surviving and not thriving. We were sad, tired, and wondering if God would ever remember us in our pain. As I reflect on this time, I can see God's fingerprints. It was God who comforted us and God who mourned with us. I'm reminded of the words of Jesus in John 16:33,

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (NIV).

Jesus reminds us that in this world, we will have trouble. We aren't promised that our lives will be filled with endless happiness, satisfaction, and prosperity; we're told we will face trouble. As we come into the season of thankfulness, perhaps you aren't feeling joyful. Perhaps you are within your own valley facing your own trials. There will be times in your life when you will experience heartbreak, sorrow, and pain; there will even be times when you wonder where God is in the mess.

James' letter in the Bible says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." (James 1:2-3 NIV). If you're anything like me, this verse does not make you want to jump up and down with happiness.

I don't want to consider it pure joy when I face trials, and I don't want to experience pain even if it does produce perseverance. However, as I look back, I see this verse coming to life within my own story. In my pain, God was present, and during that season, I grew closer to Him in ways that could only be produced by hardship. I needed to trust Him, trust in His goodness, and believe He was still at work within my story. I needed to rely on Him, rely on Him to sustain me and give me strength when I did not have the perseverance to keep going. I needed to be comforted by Him, comforted by the one who loves us so deeply. I won't disregard my pain, I was hurting, and the wound was deep, but I do count it all joy to have grown so close to God during that season. So how do we experience gratitude during the seasons where we are in the valley?

First, we pray often. We don't forget that God is with us, comforting us, and walking with us. God is our friend, and He loves us dearly; we can talk to Him about everything. God cares about the valley you are facing, and He is walking with you on your journey. Talk to Him.

Tell Him your sorrow, your pain, and your hardship. Share with Him about your anger, fear, and frustrations. Being able to walk with a friend is a gift even during the hardest of times, and God is your friend. Secondly, lean into the community God has gifted you with.

We were built to shoulder hardship together and to weather storms side by side. Who in your life loves Jesus and can walk faithfully with you? There is joy in getting to lean into each other's burdens and living life together as the body of Christ. Allow others in, it helps to have people praying for you, checking in on you, and crying alongside you. Your local church community is the family God has given to you.

Finally, practice thankfulness. Where has God been faithful in the past? Where is God within the mess? How is God leading you forward? Look for His fingerprints, they will be there because He is holding you. Each day look for one glimpse of God and thank Him for being close to you. He loves you dearly. Even during the good times and bad, God is faithful, and so we can be grateful for His love, faithfulness, and presence. You, dear sister, are beloved by the King of Kings and He will never leave you or forsake you.

Jenna is on the Pastoral team at her local church in Langley, BC. Jenna and her husband have a son who is 6 weeks old and they’re learning about the joy that comes with parenthood. Jenna enjoys blogging, paddle boarding, biking, and walks.

When It Seems Like The Harvest Doesn't Happen By Olivia Warner

Sat, 10 Sep 2022 00:53:59 GMT

How many of you have heard this verse shared in church? “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.” (Luke 10:2)

I bet if you’ve been a Christian for more than a few years, you’ve heard this used as an encouragement to go out and do God’s work, sharing the gospel and serving others. Maybe you’ve even joined in the second part of the verse, praying in earnest for God to send out more believers to be a witness in the world. The verse is meant to inspire and hopefully motivate us to do good. The harvest is there and waiting, and we’re called to respond. God needs more workers, so let’s get to it! We make it sound relatively easy, but if you’ve spent any length of time serving in church or ministering to others, you’ve probably dealt with quite a bit of discouragement and resistance. Maybe like me, you’ve sometimes looked at the “harvest” of your efforts and thought that, quite frankly, the results were meagre and the fields seemed rather dead. What do we do with that disappointment?

If I’m doing an honest evaluation, I have to admit that I’ve often pointed the finger at God.

God, You asked me to do this, why doesn’t it seem to be working?

You say You want labourers in the fields, but nothing is happening.

I’m trying my best, but is all this really worth it?

Those are the thoughts we all have but would rather not admit. It certainly doesn’t sound spiritual to be complaining and blaming God. Deep down, though, it’s how we feel, and we’ve prayed and served, planned and volunteered, and it doesn’t seem to make a difference.

As I’ve wrestled through this mindset, I’ve come to the realization that I misunderstand what my role is and what God’s is in all this. I get caught up in my own pride and ideas, thinking I know how everything should go. And when it doesn’t go according to my plan, I’m frustrated. To realign our thinking on this, notice Luke 10:2 again. We are told to pray to “the Lord of the harvest” (emphasis added). God’s name here implies that He is the one in charge of the outcome, not us. The Lord of the harvest determines the results of our labour; nowhere in here does He ask for anything from us but to be sent out.

The labourers are to go out into the world and cultivate, spreading seeds of the gospel through faithful obedience to the Lord. It does not mean that we control what happens, how many people are saved or show up to church each week. We are responsible for the effort and intention we put into it, but we can’t be responsible for what the Lord is doing in the lives of others and how they choose to act. It may be hard to let go, but it’s also freeing when we realize that the pressure isn’t on us to make everything happen.

That’s God’s job, and we should leave it in His capable hands while focusing on the role He’s given us to play.

This starts by grounding ourselves in who God is. We have to be convinced of His sovereignty and power and surrender to Him in faith. When we confidently declare He is the Lord of the harvest, we embrace a spirit of humility that allows us to redirect our grumbling to trust in His plan.

The Merciful Gardener By Nina Burnet

Sat, 10 Sep 2022 00:44:22 GMT

In 2020 my husband and I started a new garden.

We had lots of spare time (as most people did), and we were newly married. So we planted. And weeded. And watered. And things grew! The following spring, I was pregnant with our first baby. We didn’t have time or energy to pour into our garden, and it looked it. Weeds grew high, and only the stubborn rhubarb grew among them.

This year we tried to grow again. We bought a bunch of seedlings (at least we cut ourselves some slack and didn’t start from seed) and we planted them. We had cleared about half of the garden to plant, but the weeds from the other side and the hidden roots grew into sprouts very quickly. I had told myself “Oh well, whatever will grow, will grow.” But not much came up besides that stubborn rhubarb (and now kale), and every time I look at the garden, I feel bad for the rest of those poor plants. Man, I wish my garden could weed itself, but we all know it is not possible. So why do we try to weed ourselves? God tells us to remain in the vine, receive life from him, and to abide. We have the ability to make choices, and we are responsible for our own life. But sometimes, we find ourselves powerless to remove certain things. Sometimes we do our best to pull out the weeds in our hearts but they just persist. And sometimes, there are often remnants of the roots or disease where sin once grew.

In my case, I had a remnant of shame in my heart that I couldn’t weed out myself. Over the years, I began to believe that God wanted to root out the sin in my life, but He left shame and discouragement as a punishment. But then the gardener of my soul saw me struggling to grow amid those torturing vines of shame.

And he had mercy on me.

I remember much about that moment. I was sitting at the back of a chapel room in Bible college, and everyone else was standing in front of me, praising God. It had been a hard morning for me, and I bowed my head in my desperation and asked for Jesus to help me.

And then He showed up. (I don’t talk to too many people about my visions. But I’m telling you now, so don’t get all freaked out on me.) In my mind’s eye, Jesus appeared sitting in front of me, in the midst of my shame and sadness. I had an immediate gut reaction ‘to try to tidy my heart of the shame so He wouldn’t have to see or feel it. How could He be here, in this place? He reached out and stopped me. God said, “child, you know you can’t wipe away your shame. You have tried it so many times before.” In the vision, we were in a deep well. And as Jesus took a cloth from me, He wiped the grime of shame off the walls and sat down with me. The well was now clean and cool.

I felt a change in my soul that day. That inward place had been cleansed by Jesus. I still struggle with shame from time to time (I am a mom now, and that has added a whole other level - help me Jesus!), but I do not have that deep pit of it in my spirit. It has been washed clean. Thank you, Jesus! The enemy of our souls constantly lies to us about who God is. He tells us that God is trying to take good things away when He prunes us. That He is not happy with us, so we need to try better. Or that He wants to push us to do hard things when we don’t have the strength.. the list goes on. Satan is terrified that you will get to know God better. Because if you do, you will see that He really does LOVE you.

And you will come to believe that He is as good as He says he is and that you can trust Him.

I pray today that you would trust Jesus with the overgrown garden of your heart. Or perhaps the dark well in your soul. I pray that you would take your hands off the garden shears or dirty cloth and will allow him to cut off anything that is stopping you from living and growing fully. Believe that Jesus knows you more than you know yourself and looks upon you with grace and love in His eyes.

Jesus, you are the gardener of our souls. Thank you for loving us and for grafting us to your vine of life. We are so thankful that you chose us before the beginning of time and that you know us completely. What an amazing God you are - You are always better than we remember. Please come in this moment and prune our hearts. I pray specifically, Lord that you would mercifully cut off the shame that may be strangling the heart of the one reading this. I pray they would hold onto hope that You have not forgotten them in their struggle. Holy Spirit, please come and fill them with hope, peace, and your everlasting love.

Nina lives on a blueberry farm in beautiful BC with her husband, 1-year old daughter, and her crazy dog. She is a vocalist with a BA in music ministry who enjoys the fine art of Karaoke. She spends most of her days recruiting for her family’s company and her nights relaxing at home.

Friendships By Melissa Heerebout

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 23:49:27 GMT

It’s a pretty significant year. Twenty years ago, I said I do.

Over these last weeks, I’ve been pondering these last 20 years. It’s been a wild ride, and we have said yes to so many different adventures. As I remembered all of the houses we’ve lived in, I realized that we’ve lived in 16 different places since we’ve been married. Those 16 different places happened to be in seven different cities across three provinces and one state. Because we’ve moved so much, my husband Tim has become my most consistent friend. And because we’ve moved so much, I’ve had to learn how to make new friends. As kids, it seems so much easier to build new friendships, and as adults, they can feel a bit awkward. So even as a 40-year-old woman, I’m trying to learn how to cultivate new friendships. Because I firmly believe we aren’t meant to do this journey alone.

I love that my husband is such a good friend, and I still need to do life alongside other women as well.

I need other moms to bounce ideas off.

I need women experienced in business to come alongside of me.

I need older women to help me navigate this season of my life.

And I need younger women to be my mentors to help me navigate the ever-changing world.

I need sisters to help me laugh and remind me that it’s OK to cry.

We need each other.

So here is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned about cultivating friendships. CONNECT This might seem ridiculously basic, but it’s essential. Take time to invest in your friendships. Pick up the phone and give someone a call, shoot them a text message, give them a DM, whatever you need to do just take a moment to connect.

During healthy times, during the times that maybe just feel mundane, invest! So that you can have those friends when you hit those crises. I’ve had seasons where I’ve been great at this and seasons where I have been lousy at this.

Now, maybe you are in a position where you feel like your friendship list is pretty short. Covid has done a real number on our friendships. Personally, I neglected several friendships over that season, and some didn’t bounce back. Possibly you’ve lost some of those friendships over these last 18 months. Or perhaps you’re like me, and you’ve moved into a new city and you are looking for ways to connect.

Whatever the reason you are looking for new friendships, one of the best ways to find them is to serve. Jump into your local church and serve. A shared experience with somebody creates this bond and the opportunity to build off of that. As a pastor at a local church, we need people to serve, and the fantastic thing about serving is that it doesn’t just benefit the church or the leadership it benefits you as well. Being on mission together and serving is one of the best ways that you can start to build new friendships and new connections.

Here’s your invite, dear sisters; pick up the phone and send a text message. Pick the phone and ask how you can serve at your church. Take the time to connect and see how your friendships grow!

Cultivating Faith By Casey Wayne

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 23:25:39 GMT

As a new mom, I felt restless. Time seemed to be moving backwards, and the daily cycle of activity turned monotonous fast. I felt stuck and unsure how to move forward.

The time and care I had for my children were important. While I recognized the significance of my role as a mother, I craved something for myself. This feeling drove me to discover a new hobby easily done in the random moments between feedings and diaper changes. Gardening became my new focus. A hobby I hoped would help me feel productive as I watched it grow. It seemed simple enough. The deeper I got into my research, the more I realized how simple and yet complex gardening can be. It takes time, intention, and lots of planning, preparation, and dedication to create the best environment for each individual type of plant to be as successful as possible. Consistent effort throughout the process is required to achieve the desired result. Our sanctification process is the same. To cultivate a life for Christ requires continuous, intentional efforts. Even through storms or uncomfortable heat. We must be willing to allow the Spirit to create an environment that generates growth in us.

As God pours into our hearts, we must be willing to soak up all the nutrients He provides to flourish in the life He has for us. Our spiritual growth is dependent on our willingness to actively pursue it. As we seek a deeper relationship with our heavenly Father, our desire to be moulded to the likeness of Christ should stir our hearts for Spirit-led change. It requires us to open our hearts to the cultivation process so we can have deep roots in God’s Word, creating a life that produces fruit for God’s glory.

1. AVAILABILITY

Make yourself available to hear God speak to you. Take time to be still, read God’s Word and lift prayers to the Almighty.

2. CONSISTENCY

Push yourself to create space for the Spirit to guide you daily. Make time in your schedule to have that time with the Lord—and stick to it!

3. BE TEACHABLE

Pray for God to reveal areas where your heart needs to grow or change. Then be willing to humble yourself as you allow the Holy Spirit to help you make those changes.

4. DO NOT STOP

God, in His kindness, will continue to help us learn, grow and share our stories for His glory. There is always more room for God to teach us something new so that we may be faithful stewards of the life He has given us.

Casey Wayne is a wife and mother of two. She enjoys time with her family doing simple things like movie nights and cooking together. As a devotional writer, Casey strives to share her story with relatable honesty, showing how God is faithful throughout the big and small moments of life. She has a heart for encouraging the faith walk of other moms, and praying they gain a deeper connection with our heavenly Father. Her family lives in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Connect with Casey at caseywayne.org. You can also find her on Instagram or Facebook @caseylwayne.

The Challenge of Loving Our Bodies By Kim Gomez

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 23:14:28 GMT

Loving our own bodies may sometimes be challenging, even for the most confident among us.

But it’s a challenge worth accepting and a goal worth working towards.

“Love others in the same way you love yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

It's healthy to love yourself.

Ask yourself - What if I start to BELIEVE what God says about my body and what if I start to IGNORE what the world says I “should” look like?

What if I consider my body a gift?

A GIFT THAT :

I LOVE “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Psalm 139:14

I APPRECIATE “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

I AM THANKFUL FOR “You are not your own, you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I TAKE GOOD CARE OF “For we are God’s masterpiece.” Ephesians 2:10

I ENJOY “So God created man (& woman) in His own image.” Genesis 1:26-27

I PROTECT “The Spirit of God makes His permanent home in you.” 1 Corinthians 3:16

When it comes to our bodies, we often focus on the perceived “flaws” instead of seeing our own personal beauty.

LET’S FLIP THAT SCRIPT!

How would you respond to these prompts?

1. I’m thankful my body allows me to…

2. I feel really comfortable in my own skin when…

3. I love my body because…

4. What do I need to feel strong, nourished and energized…

5. What’s one thing I can do every day to love and support my body…

Dear Sister, You are altogether beautiful, my darling, there is no flaw in you. Song of Songs 4:7

This article is from Four Square mentoring's 9-week spiritual fruit journal and is used with permission. Four Square Mentoring is a framework for ongoing and deep conversations, building relationships and strengthening women through connection, wisdom and guidance. This powerful 9-week journal provides a foundation for those conversations. You will explore your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being in light of scriptures based on the Fruit of the Spirit Are you ready for an increase in your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Pick up your copy of this excellent journal!

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Tending the Right Now By Michele Wilber

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 23:03:01 GMT

We put our tomato plants in early this year. We staked them as they grew tall and set up a drip system, so they had water each day.

The cool spring and late start to a hot summer made these tomatoes thrive. As the adage in the south goes for growing corn, "knee high by the fourth of July," we were shoulder height and growing steady by June. The instant we hit triple digits in July, we soon had stewed tomatoes dripping from the vines. We salvaged the last remaining tomatoes and made delicious salsa.

We knew we were enjoying the last fruits of summer and savoured each bite. Our western culture teaches us to look ahead, set goals, and plan to achieve that next thing. As Christians, we look forward with hope to the future. Then how do we live right now if we are always looking toward what is next? How do we teach our children contentment if we always teach them to look beyond right now?

How do I model working hard towards a goal while being content with what has been accomplished right now?

As a mother, I am not confident I have this figured out. This seems to be a daily struggle for me. How do I model working hard towards a goal while being content with what has been accomplished right now? There is always another good thing to achieve, from sports teams to grades or activities at school. There is always some "thing" to reach for just out of our grasp today to reach for tomorrow. We hear them called "reach goals" because they are just that, a goal that we need to reach towards to achieve.

Growing tomatoes teaches me to tend to the right now. It teaches me to care for what is in front of me in order to enjoy what will be provided tomorrow. When I tend these plants with what is needed today, I can enjoy the fruit of that labour when tomorrow's today arrives.

Cultivate Contentment

As parents, we want more for our kids than we had. We desire to give them experiences and things we may not have had. It's natural to love our children and want to express our love for them (Matt. 7:11). How do we balance that and not raise entitled children? I know what is true in my own life: when I show gratitude, it naturally gives way to a content heart. When I express my thankfulness for what I have in my life and the Creator of it all, I am more grateful now for what I do have in my life rather than for what I don't have.

Find simple ways to include the practice of honouring the Lord for his provision. An evening prayer before bed recalling what you are grateful for that day, a morning prayer driving to school, or a journal list your family keeps.

Cultivate Generosity

Finding unique ways to teach the lesson to our kids that giving produces a content heart may look different in every family. Provide consistent opportunities for your children to give sacrificially of their own money, time, and talent. Are there changes you can make in your lifestyle to produce kids who want to be generous? Add simple family practices that take them out of the comfort of their own home and neighbourhood so they can experience how God can use their small offering. Let the Holy Spirit do the work in their lives to shape their hearts so they experience a God who can't be out-given.

Cultivate Grace

Do we slow down long enough to acknowledge our mistakes without moving on quickly to mask our failures? Or do we do the opposite and sit with the shame and guilt of mistakes for too long? How do you extend grace to those who have disappointed us and extend grace to ourselves for mistakes? We can model this to our kids when we face this in our own lives. Our children watch our responses to life's daily situations, like being cut off in the pickup line at your kid's school. Let your kids hear you apologize to your spouse and to them. Let them see the outflow of your relationship with Jesus in how you respond.

By cultivating contentment, generosity, and grace in our lives, we tend to the "right now" God has given us, so we are like Jesus tomorrow. We become people who trust God for today, knowing He is the Lord of tomorrow. Living with a content heart helps to break a pattern of always wanting more. By extending grace to others and ourselves, we learn that true freedom in Christ comes from fully understanding what Jesus did on the cross and His forgiveness towards us.

Tending the right now and being stewards of the gifts he has given us today provides us with opportunities to be used again for His kingdom. In what ways are you tending right now? What is one simple practice you can incorporate into your life to cultivate contentment, generosity, and grace?

Look at what God says in His word about contentment, generosity, and grace: Ps. 37:3-4; Hab. 3:17-19; Matt. 5:6; John 4:13-15; 2 Corin. 12:9-10; Eph. 1:6-7, 2:8-9;Phil. 4:11-12, and Tim. 6:6-10.

Father, thank you that you have entrusted us with "right now." Please help us to be faithful stewards of all you have given us so we can be your hands and feet. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Cultivating a Heart of Hospitality By Olivia Warner

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 22:46:34 GMT

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "practice hospitality"?

Do you picture a door open wide to a spacious home with warm food spread across the table and a smiling face to greet you? Or do you imagine a group of friends curled up on big, comfy couches, trading stories and laughter with a host who keeps the conversation and snacks flowing effortlessly? If you're anything like me, maybe you've fallen into the trap of thinking that hospitality is some picture-perfect event done by the put-together people. You know, the outgoing ones with the big house, the coffee table clear from last week's mail, and the calm, obedient children. And then you look at yourself and think, "I just can't do that," and you write off hospitality as something you can't practice. Certainly not right now, anyway.

There are a myriad of reasons we come up with. Maybe your apartment feels cramped, or your roommate is uncomfortable with guests. Perhaps a busy work schedule or small children underfoot make it challenging to share a meal. Maybe your quiet personality doesn't match the bubbly energy you think is needed to facilitate groups. Or perhaps a tight budget has held you back because there's just not money to spare for hosting. If you're looking at your life and seeing all the things that can't measure up to your image of hospitality, I want to offer you a word of hope and challenge. It's time to release the pressure of perfectionism and start cultivating a new perspective. Hospitality is about your heart – not the state or size of your home.

In 1 Peter 4, we're encouraged to live according to God's ways in every area of our lives. He tells us to love each other deeply (v. 8), and then goes on to speak specifically about hospitality.

"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 4:9-11a, NIV)

Did you catch anything significant in there? Not only is hospitality a direct command from God, but it's one we should do without grumbling. When we choose not to practice hospitality, we choose to disobey God. And when we bemoan a too-small apartment or busy schedule compared to someone else's "ideal life," we're complaining about the very resources and responsibilities He has entrusted us.

How's that for double conviction? Gulp. But the point of all of this is not for us now to be burdened by shame and guilt. Instead, it's a chance to walk in freedom, understanding how God has equipped us to show hospitality wherever we are at. As we embrace this mindset, we free ourselves from the pressure to perform and find that we can walk in obedience and joy while cultivating a habit of hospitality. That passage in 1 Peter tells us that God's grace has been gifted to us in various forms so that we can be faithful stewards.

This means we will each have different abilities and tools we can use for hospitality. It also means your unique gifts are needed to serve the body of Christ and have been given to you by God for that very purpose! For some, your loud, vibrant energy will welcome people in and keep them entertained. For others, your quiet gentleness will be the listening ear to tend to an aching heart. For some, the flexibility of singleness will allow you room for creativity and fun in connecting during evenings and weekends.

For others, involving your family in hosting will demonstrate to the world the importance of a home built with Jesus at the center. For some, a small apartment or roommates will encourage you to get out and explore new places, inviting others along to experience life with you. For others, more space at home means you could have a group over for Bible study or a potluck. All of these are blessings, and these are how God's grace and gifts manifest through us to be a light for one another.

So let's be faithful stewards and get out there to be hospitable to one another! Try out some of the ideas below if you're looking to cultivate a heart of hospitality in your corner of the world, and don't be afraid to tweak them to be realistic for you.

Invite a new guest or someone you don't know from church for a coffee and get-to-know-you time. Bonus points if you treat them to their drink.
Organize a potluck with your small group or other families where everyone pitches in a dish or snack to share.
Cook and deliver a meal to a friend you know is sick, struggling, or in need of encouragement. If you know they'd appreciate the company, ask if you can join them!
Plan a game night as a lowkey way to share some laughs and positivity with others. This is an excellent option if you're looking for free/low-budget ideas.
Tight on space at home? Pack some sandwiches or easy-to-go foods and ask a couple of people to join you for a picnic at a local park or outdoor meeting area.
Ask the new woman at work, church, or school to grab lunch with you. This could happen in the office kitchen, your home, or out at a local restaurant.

Whatever it looks like for you right now, I pray you are inspired to get creative and intentional to start practicing hospitality more in your everyday.

3 Soul Essentials for Cultivating a Faith-Filled Life By Celia Miller

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 18:42:28 GMT

I run my hands through the fresh soil, my gardening gloves feeling slightly rough against my skin.

But even through their thick material, I can tell that the soil is damp and ready to receive new growth. It’s near the end of May, and my dream of a little backyard herb garden is finally coming to fruition. After weeks of researching the hardiest herbs to withstand a hot southern Indiana summer, I gaze in adoration at my rosemary, thyme, oregano, cilantro, and French tarragon.

Their aromas waft toward me as I brush the hair out of my eyes with the back of my garden-gloved, dirt-covered hand and look back down at the soil. In all the research that I conducted on herbs, one thing rang true for them all. Herbs need a certain type of soil to grow strong. Potting soil is the best for herbs because it’s light, fluffy, and nutrient-dense, allowing water to sink down deep into their roots.

The herbs will suffocate and die if the roots can’t expand and dig deeper. And good soil, absorbent and rich with nutrients, is essential for cultivating a healthy environment for herbs to flourish and thrive. I reach for the first herb to plop into my little herb box, soil laid and ready to receive fresh roots. As I push the soil down, making room for rosemary, I ponder how similar our souls are to a garden. Just as my herb garden needs the correct type of soil, nutrients, and tending to flourish, our souls need certain things to cultivate a healthy, faith-filled life. Because the quality of our lives flows right out of the state of our souls, look at the soul and you know what kind of life you’re living. 3 Soul Essentials for Cultivating a Faith-Filled Life For herbs, the basic essentials for healthy growing include rich soil, ample sunlight, and adequate water. So, let’s take a look at our own souls and name the three essentials it needs to help us cultivate a healthy, faith-filled life.

1.Rich Soil:

A Firm Foundation Herbs can’t grow without the correct type of soil, just like we can’t grow without a firm foundation beneath our feet. Our souls need a place to call home, a place where it can rest, feel safe, and be refreshed. Our soul has roots, just like herbs do. And what we root our souls into greatly determines the quality of our lives.

Colossians 2:6-7 gives us a clear answer that the foundation for our souls isn’t necessarily a “what” but a “Who”.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (NLT)

Christ is the soil our souls need, providing rich, dense nutrients to thrive and live an abundant life. Being rooted in a relationship with Jesus and in His holy hands is the only firm foundation we can find our true selves in.

2. Ample Sunlight:

A Consistent Prayer Life While a firm foundation in Christ acts as the good soil for souls, a consistent prayer life brings light to our souls and to our lives. Herbs need ample sunlight to grow, and we need the light of constant communication with our Creator to grow our faith roots.

Jesus desires to walk in relationship with us, and a huge part of our relationship with Jesus is engaging in prayer. Jesus Himself modelled this behaviour in the New Testament and was constantly seen taking time away to be and talk with His Heavenly Father.

“But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” (Luke 5:16, NLT)

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we see that prayer is an invitation to commune closely with the Lord that we are to pursue constantly as believers, “...be unceasing and persistent in prayer;” (AMP) A consistent prayer life is a constant communion with God, giving light to our souls that spill out into our lives. Our souls ache for our Creator’s voice and His loving, gentle presence. When we enter into prayer, we allow the light of God to penetrate our souls.

3. Adequate Amount of Water:

The Word of God Gardens get thirsty, and our souls are their own kind of sacred garden buried deep within. And souls get thirsty, too. King David in the desert of Judah said it best when he cried out to God in Psalm 63:1,

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” (NIV)

Our souls are constantly thirsty for more of God because we were designed to crave only what God can give. And there is no better way to meet with God and wrap ourselves in His truth than to run to His Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 in the Amplified Version gives a detailed description of just how thoroughly quenching the Word of God is for our souls, “All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Scripture is God-breathed and absolutely relevant and applicable to what we face in our lives today. It is good, faithful, and oh, so true, and it’s what we should be constantly watering our souls with.

The Word of God is where we go to find God, His promises, His heart, and even what He says is true about ourselves. Our souls find refreshment in the divine Word of the Holy One and help to grow our faith roots down deeper into sacred soil. An Invitation to Go Deeper A firm foundation, consistent prayer life, and the Word of God are three soul essentials we need to cultivate a faith-filled life.

How we live and the type of impact we leave on the world around us heavily depends on the state of our souls. If our souls are healthy, our lives are healthy, and our heavenly Father is glorified.

So now that we know what our souls need to thrive, it’s time to put what we’ve learned into practice and respond to Jesus’s invitation to go deeper and live rooted. It's time to tend to our souls and take inventory of what we need more of. The first step in receiving what our souls need is naming the current state of our souls. Is our soul thirsty for more time spent in the Word? Do we need to return to our foundation and recenter ourselves in our relationship with God? Is our soul longing for a closer communion that can grow from a consistent prayer life?

Jesus longs to go deeper and walk closer in relationship with us, and His will is for us to live abundant, faith-filled lives for His glory, as stated in John 15:8, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (NIV) My herbs land softly in the damp soil, and I can hear their desire to be rooted and their thirst for growth. My soul echoes that same desire, that same thirst, and I come to the conclusion that as long as my soul is turned toward and tended to by God, I’ll bear His abundant fruit.

Innermost By Sabrina Wages

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 20:49:33 GMT

Innermost. The most sacred place to be, the place longed for in so many people in our society nowdays.

Our hearts long for a world where we belong, a place where we fit in . The trouble with chasing after the will and wanting to fit in is that we lose one of our creator's biggest desires.

He wants us to stand out.

The question is, what is so important about the innermost part of our beings? What stands out in there that isn’t available or offered out here in the everyday world? I’ll tell you, it’s the path and purpose that lives inside of us given to us by the one who created the world. Not just our world, but the stars and the galaxy’s, the One who created every ounce of everything you see. The One who made the world go around and brings the tide in and out at specific times each day. The one who formed you before you were born knit you together with love in every strand. God, the innermost part of our being, leads us straight to God. Being and dwelling in our innermost being opens the door for our purpose to shine through.

Our deepest desires, our dreams and goals, so many of those are from the Creator Himself. We sometimes find it selfish to chase after those dreams in our hearts, thinking that we should be focused on spreading the gospel and bringing people to Christ.

I’m here to tell you today that fulfilling the purpose in our hearts is going to bring people to Christ. Fulfilling our God-given desires is what places us in God’s will, allowing us to minister to those around us to whom God has opened the door for us to minister.

For example, God has brought me back into the world of acting. Movies, tv shows are mostly secular over Christian. My first thought, and something also expressed by others, was, “You’re going to do movies and tv shows that aren’t Christian?” In my quiet time one night, God spoke these words so clearly though that I will never forget them. He said, “It’s time to infiltrate.” Infiltrate? What? Yes! The light shines brighter in a room full of darkness than it does in a room full of light.

So to get our light, the light of Jesus in us, out to witness to the world, we must sometimes go into darker places so His light is seen brighter. Remember this when God calls you into places you had never thought of entering. Go where He sends you. For some, this may be waking up every morning to those sweet little faces that need your every moment. To others, this may be simply going to the grocery store every Tuesday to minister to the sweet cashier. While to others, it means going into the deepest parts of the world to serve the sweet souls of the people there.

I’m here today to simply say that our purpose and deepest desires are found when we enter the innermost part of our being. The place in ourselves where God dwells and is ready with open arms to share the plan He has for us. Enter into the innermost part of your being today and find your true calling, fulfilling all that God has called you to be and do.

You have a deep purpose in this life.

Finding it begins with one simple step, entering into the innermost.

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Back To School Style Guide 2022

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 20:33:10 GMT

Fall Fashion: Back To School

Depending on where you are, back to school has either started or is on the horizon in the next few weeks. So we've been on the hunt through the pages of Amazon to help bring you some great deals on some back-school fashion for your kids and a few fall items for you too ! All the items that we've chosen have a 4 or higher rating.

We have four lists available, girls, boys teen girls and you ! My daughter Layla who is 14, curated the teen girl list for this issue! We hope these lists will serve you well and save time as you prepare for this next season!

Love,

Melissa

Benched By Maribeth Dodd

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 20:20:26 GMT

Less than two years into marriage Chris and I each took a ministry position at a church in Phoenix, AZ, which was a long way from our home in Atlanta.

For me it was a similar worship position, for him a total career change from I.T. to ministry. It was risky. Chris would take a huge pay cut. We’d leave behind our family and a church we loved. But we put on our big adventure pants and chased whatever God had next. It didn’t hurt that there was a Starbucks card included with the salary.

We listed our first home for sale and drove across the country in Chris’ Honda Accord overflowing with our clothes, my keyboard and our little dog, Thatcher. We travelled across Texas, New Mexico and finally into Arizona. We saw the incredible Sedona for the first time and arrived in Anthem, AZ, just in time to go straight to band practice. We were fast-tracked into church life and were both on stage leading worship by Sunday.

Homeless and happy, we just dove in. Truly though, the church was so gracious to furnish a home for us while we waited for ours to sell, and the sweet Edwards family let us stay for free in one of their beautiful rental homes. The culture shock that would follow was pretty fierce. It was such a different place. No more Bible Belt. No lush greenery. Goodbye, sugarcoating everything. But it was also hello to amazing Mexican food, sunshine every day and people with a hunger for God and a willingness to talk about their struggles openly. And after a short time, we began to appreciate this new kind of beauty and way of life.

Three months later, our home in Georgia finally sold. We made the big move and just as we settled in we found out we were going to have our first baby. Talk. About. Shock. All kinds of fear went through our minds. How do we tell our parents? We just moved far far away from them. How do we tell our boss? He just moved us here. And for me, what’s going to happen to my career? I feared I’d be sidelined, and I wouldn’t be able to continue with this new, incredible opportunity. I wasn’t even sure they’d still want me.

It was not how I imagined motherhood beginning. In fact, though I badly wanted to have babies, I had never really imagined how it would start. I had always known that I wanted to work, but I also knew that I didn’t want my kids raised full-time by someone else. And I think deep down, I was wondering if having kids would disqualify me from ministry. From pursuing my calling. From being Maribeth.

Our Pastor was one of the people we told first. Well, I say we, but Chris did the heavy lifting. I saw him a day or so later, and he spoke the most alien words to me:

Maribeth, I’m excited to see how being a mom will impact your worship leading. You’re going to have a new depth of experience. I can’t wait to see how God will use it.

I was sent back on my heels. First for his gracious response. And second at the seed planted that there was a possibility that being a mom didn’t disqualify me from pursuing my calling. It didn’t make me unfit for ministry. In fact maybe it would enhance my experience, grow my heart and allow me to connect with others in a new and deeper way. And even as my belly grew I began to understand the love of God more intricately.

Our fourth little boy was on the way, and we had just moved across the country for the third time. Back to the Bible Belt in Nashville, TN. I was unknown and had little reputation in our new community. And for the first time ever, I was a pastor’s wife that wasn’t a pastor. The business I started years earlier was struggling. I had no idea what the future held. I felt ill-fitted for my circumstances. These weren’t my people yet, and I didn’t know my next move. There was so little I could control. And over a tall, decaf, almond milk latte, my new friend’s words rang out:

Maribeth, for some reason, God has you hidden right now. I don’t know why but He does.

And as it turns out, what I saw as being benched, God saw as a time of preparation. Preparation for a time like this when I would step into the space between the hustle of entrepreneurialism and the calling of ministry.

Where I would have a chance to lift up the chins of others who are doing their best to live with purpose but struggling with what’s next. For others who would sit for hours and ask God why and when and how he would deliver not realizing that every day is an important part of the process. I’m six years past that coffee. And wow have I wrestled with making sense of the mosaic nature of life and the meaning of purpose. But here’s what I’ve found:

The work God wants to do in you, and through you, he will do wherever he has you.

He doesn’t waste any of it.

You’re not disqualified when things don’t go in the order or at the pace you imagined. You’re not obsolete even when you say a tearful goodbye to a dream, a career or a title. So this is for you who may be questioning that you can still do great things. For those of you who think your resume or your mixture of experiences qualifies you for exactly nothing. I want to say to you what one of my heroes once said to me.

It’s impossible to find people like you.

There’s never been anyone in history like you and there’s never going to be another. Your quirky collection of talents, the life lived and even your mistakes are exactly what’s needed for the unique mark you will make on this world. So let today initiate a new beginning. A day where you truly begin to love not just where you’re going but where you are. For each difficult step forward is still just that. A step forward.

You didn’t miss it. There’s still time. You’re not too old or too young. God doesn’t wait for you to ‘arrive’ to begin working through you and in you. He knows exactly where you are and he’s not surprised one bit. And he’ll be in it with you if you let him.

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Reset Your Resilience! By Kim Gomez

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 19:59:08 GMT

I can be resilient and feminine at the same time.

My team and I at Four Square Mentoring recently wrapped up a season of Resilience Training. I feel stronger, more focused, and definitely more confident. This work is helping me grow into a more capable and well-prepared woman. My mentor in this arena is unique. Jonny is a Psychotherapist that treats mostly men caught up in addiction. He looks a bit like a Navy Seal – strong, rugged, bearded and tattooed. Jonny and his amazing wife have four beautiful daughters under ten years old, and when I heard about the resilience training he does with them, I realized that I NEED that too! Honestly, I believe women are offered a lot of semi-fluff teachings and events. Most of us are hungry for more substance, training that helps us be steady women in an unsteady world. Today we have access to running water, groceries delivered, climate-controlled cars, houses and work environments and cell phones that can answer all of our questions. We don’t have to hunt our own food or grow our own crops – we can go days without physically exerting ourselves. We are the most obese and heavily medicated culture that has ever existed.

Most of us are hungry for more substance, training that helps us be steady women in an unsteady world.

We do not have more reasons than our ancestors to be stressed, anxious or afraid – we are simply not as strong. Resilience is the ability to remain focused on objectives despite adversity, setbacks and fear. It’s the ability to detach from emotions and physical pain for a time period as needed. (i.e., First Responders, WW2 Nurses, Free Divers, Athletes, etc.) It is maintaining your composure, mental calmness and controlling your temper.

It’s a muscle, and we can’t train and develop by reading about it or watching a video because then we would have knowledge but without experience. We develop resilience and mental toughness through voluntary exposure to difficulty.

Remember that we do not grow inside of our comfort zone. We grow as we push through discomfort. Let’s break it down Mentally, Physically, Emotionally and Spiritually and identify a few basic activities and habits that will move you towards a higher level of resilience.

1.Mental - Master your negative thoughts.

”Do not speak badly of yourself, for the warrior inside hears those words and is lessened by them” (Old Samurai Proverb).
Have a growth mindset.
Verbally empower yourself the way you would empower a good friend.
Remind yourself that you have handled adversity in your life and you are still standing.
Challenge yourself with cognitive exercises that help memory, focus and problem-solving skills.
Practice optimism.
Study and memorize scriptures on the Mind of Christ.

2. Physical - Control your physiology.

Limit exposure to negative news, social media and toxic people.
Intentionally move your body outside of its comfort zone.
Daily breath work.
Don’t ignore the basics of sleep, water, healthy food and physical activity.
Ice baths or at least a 30 second cold blast at the end of your shower.
Exercise in the hottest or coldest part of the day.
A few more reps at the gym, even when it burns – you can do it.
Look in a mirror and say something kind about your body.
Sign up for a 5K walk or run and then train for it.
Acknowledge that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

3. Emotional - Manage your emotions more effectively

Know that emotions are neither good nor bad – but they are real.
They’re hard-wired in you – not random thoughts.
Manage your emotions so that they don’t manage you.
Acknowledge the many lessons you’ve learned already.
Meditate/Pray. Allow this to calm your emotions and strengthen you.
Know that you can pivot, navigate and manage whatever comes your way.
Get the support you need, and bring in a mental health professional to help if needed.
Ditch the lies and labels other people have placed on you.
Stand on the truth about yourself. Jesus says that you, out of all creation, are His prized possession.

4.Spiritual - Model your Spiritual Mentor – Jesus

Know the truth. (It’s in the Bible)
Remove the peace disruptors from your spirit: lust, envy, greed, pride, shame, guilt etc.
Connect with a small or large community that will walk with you.
Memorize scripture, and it will be there when you need it.
Think of yourself less and other people more.
Enjoy the powerful Fruit of the Spirit already inside you – love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Read about resilient people in the Bible - Moses, Job, Esther, Abraham, Mary, the 12, Caleb, Joseph, Abigail, and so many more.
Trust Jesus, and your faith is more powerful than your fear.

The end goal is to give you practical tools that will strengthen you into becoming a woman who is capable and prepared to handle various forms of adversity. I am stronger than I think I am. You are stronger than you think you are. Together we are even stronger.

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Purpose By Melissa Heerebout

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 03:18:44 GMT

Have you ever been in a season where your confidence is high, and you know and understand the direction that you’re heading?

Have you ever been in a season where your confidence is high, and you know and understand the direction that you’re heading? You are building and creating things for the future, and suddenly it feels like the rug is pulled out from underneath you. Maybe it’s a global pandemic, or perhaps it’s a job loss or a move across the country. I felt like that over this past year. In my previous role, I had an idea and a plan, and I knew the direction that I was taking my team. I felt confident and self-assured.

Then I left my job.

My husband and I felt called to move across the country to a new role, a new city, and house, and new friends. It was a whole lot of new.

It meant laying down what I felt passionate about for a season, and this sent me into a season of learning and growing and feeling entirely out of my depth. To be honest, at first, I was kind of annoyed at the new role I had to take.

I wanted to do what I wanted to do.

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Yet, learning how to serve in an area that I didn’t feel entirely equipped to lead in has led me to my knees in prayer; Has led me to seek out Jesus even more; Has led me to care deeply for people and understand in more profound ways how God is working.

This past year has humbled me.

Being an interim pastor for kids and youth has pushed me far beyond my comfort zone. Being outside of that safety net has deepened my relationship with Jesus and given me a new perspective on purpose and calling.

Having a perceived disruption in my plans has allowed me to see the next generation owning their faith. It’s been a wild ride this last year, and I’ve seen God show up again and again.

This last year has helped me explore my purpose and understand how to trust God even in the middle of a season where I feel like a fish out of water.

There will be seasons where you need to look at your immediate calling and the needs around you and step in to serve.It may not be glamorous, and it may not be your long-term calling.

But God can use you in profound ways if you allow your heart to be open, your hands to be used, and your prayers to be heard. Be a willing participant to serve right where you’re at.

Don’t wait for the perfect church. Don’t wait until you feel like it’s 100% the ideal opportunity because then you’ll miss out. You’ll miss out on the opportunities right in front of you and those who need you. We can be an answer to prayer for somebody. Sometimes we want to look too far into the future and miss out on what’s right in front of us.

Jump in and serve the local church. We need you.

A kid or teen in your church probably needs to hear your story.

Serve them.

Maybe there’s a young mom that needs to be encouraged.

Serve them.

Maybe there is a senior who needs to have their story heard.

Serve them.

Every day we can step into the purposes God has for us if we lift our heads, look around, and see how we can serve. We need you serving at the local church because God has given you a story.

Share it.

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Change. Persistence. Healing. By Katie Nelson

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 03:07:05 GMT

A month before my 33rd birthday, I walked into Target after yet another doctor's appointment.

A month before my 33rd birthday , I walked into Target after yet another doctor's appointment. I hardly ever get to shop by myself, so this seemed like some much-needed mom therapy. As I approached the jewelry section, I was immediately drawn to a row of necklaces. A simple crystal necklace on a gold chain stood out to me. Three words were written on the cardboard behind it: Change, persistence, healing . I felt very strongly that God wanted me to remember those words. The last three years had been overflowing with health issues. Overactive bladder, interstitial cystitis, food sensitivities, recurring UTIs, heavy periods, back pain, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.

I don’t know what was worse - the pain and discomfort or the snowballing fear that came with not knowing what was causing my mountain of symptoms. I felt like I was going crazy. My mental health spiralled. But finally, in February, an MRI confirmed that I had endometriosis. A hysterectomy was not something I wanted to do, but I had tried everything (and I mean everything!) else, and I was not getting better.

From time to time, throughout my health struggles, I thought about the bleeding woman in Mark 5:25-34. In verses 25-26, we read, “And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”

But, what I do know is that she didn’t give up and we shouldn’t either.

Girl, I can relate. She suffered much longer - twelve years! But, she spent all that she had on medications and treatments only to get worse. I feel that! Being sick for three years drained me (and my family) financially, mentally, physically, and emotionally. I cannot imagine what it was like struggling for so much longer. Not only that, she was considered unclean - a social outcast - because of her condition.

In verses 27 and 28 we learn, “She had he ard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’” Wow, how did she have so much faith? How did she drag herself out of the house to see this Jesus guy? I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you. But she did it, and it paid off. She touched his robe and was healed. In verse 34, we read, “And he [Jesus] said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” .

I wish I could talk to this woman. I have so many questions. But, what I do know is that she didn’t give up and we shouldn’t either. I do know that our mindset matters. If I focused on my symptoms and how I was feeling, I became consumed by fear and anxiety. If I focused on things that brought me joy, I had relief - even if it was temporary I am now two months out from my hysterectomy. The recovery process was not easy, but I feel amazing now. I don’t even feel like my old self - I feel better! I think it’s because I really appreciate my health. I definitely took it for granted before. Although this is a nice lesson, if I’m honest, I still wish I didn’t have a truckload of health trials the last few years. I don’t know why God allows us to go through so much pain for so long sometimes. But, as someone who is getting a glimpse of healing… Please, don’t give up. The wait is so worth it. Change. Persistence. Healing. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” -Philippians 4:13

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Finding Purpose In Life's Transition By Michele Wilbert

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 02:14:22 GMT

August contains all the last-minute things we squeeze in before school starts.

It tastes like late-night runs for ice cream and ice-cold lemonade after bike riding . August sounds like sprinklers going off early in the morning and kids splashing in the pool just a little longer while grown-ups talk on the porch. It smells like just a little more sunscreen on our nose and shoulders and hamburgers on the grill. It feels like a new notebook and eraser. August finds its purpose in filling this month with all the things we want summer to contain before our calendars begin to fill with more scheduled days. August transitions us to the rhythms of September. As August gives purpose to September, we often discover purpose in transitions. Transitions prepare us for a new season. They give us time to grieve old seasons and set us up for better ways. God uses transitions in our lives to give purpose to the new things He has for us.

Transitions prepare us for a new season.

The Bible is filled with transitions. There is the transition from law to grace, from the hope of a Messiah one day coming to the reality that the promised One, Jesus, came. We find a transition from the promise that the Spirit would come and the truth that the Spirit did indeed come to indwell us and from the day of Christ’s death to the Day of Pentecost. We often see how what seemed like despair gave purpose to what God had next for us. We experience a more hopeful and personal way of living with Jesus as we walk with Him in our life transitions. Personally, a season of loss left our family wondering if we would ever feel hopeful that good could come out that season. We could not see the possibility of better and even best seasons ahead for us. As days of grieving passed, we experienced the ebb and flow of grief. Sometimes tsunami-like and sometimes gentle waves. How do we embrace transitions so we can see them as good in the middle of hard?

God gives us promises that offer hope of eternity with Him (I Peter 1:3-9). It gives us the ability to look forward, but how do we live in the middle of almost but not yet? We have received a promise of His presence (Ephesians 1:13-14;I John 3:24).

In John 16:7, Jesus tells us it is better that He leaves because He will send us the Advocate. The disciples could not fathom anything better than Jesus. But what they would learn is that the Holy Spirit's presence with them was better. The Holy Spirit is given to us as our helper, our comforter, and God’s presence with us always.

God provides comfort and His hope for new beginnings.

What transitions are you experiencing in your life right now? What must you let go of to see the “better” God has for you? Loss doesn’t always leave us, but as we transition from the immediate overwhelming grief, God provides comfort and His hope for new beginnings.

His constant presence reminds us of an eternal perspective that helps us see purpose in transitions and what God has for us is better than anything we could plan or purpose for ourselves. Father, for my sister who is in the middle of pain, provide your comfort. For my sister who is stuck and can’t see what you have to offer her in this season, help her to see your purpose in this time of transition. For all of us wondering what is next, give us wisdom and strength to lean on you for our next steps. In Your Name Jesus, Amen.