“Make lemonade!” That’s cute… And a great go to saying.. but what if God doesn’t want lemonade? What if He wants lemon meringue pie?
Life isn’t always sweet. Sometimes it’s sour. And confusing.
As teens, you are constantly being asked:
“What’s your plan?”
Read MoreHave you ever planned to talk to someone and in your mind, you plan out how the whole conversation is going to go? I’m going to say this and then they’re going to say that, and then I’ll come back with the other thing and on it goes. Then you get into the conversation and the other person goes completely off-script and you can’t understand what happened! That was not the way it was supposed to go! The conversation didn’t meet your expectations.
Read MoreThese people wore masks only when specifically asked to, didn’t pay any attention to the arrows in the grocery isles, hugged their friends and family without second thought, and will only get the vaccine over their dead bodies. They watched “other” news outlets, read “other” articles, and watched “other” videos that exposed the apparent lies and mis-information the mainstream media was spreading. They were miserable being in quarantine and believed they were having their constitutional rights ripped away from them quicker than anyone could ever imagine.
Read MoreHave you ever been overwhelmed? I think there are times we can all think of when life has seemed a little (or very) overwhelming. I can think of a few instances in my life where that has been the case. We’ve had hard ministry days, we’ve gone through unexpected moves
Read MoreWE are called to love as Christ loves, and this often means stepping outside our comfort zones. Luke 6:32 reminds us: “For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.” The true test of our faith is how we love those who may not love us back, who may challenge our patience, or who may even wrong us or may have already wronged us.
Read MoreI can’t even imagine how God feels about our normal. I imagine tears in His eyes and a broken heart when I think of Him seeing how we live. Sadly, we give God so little when He has given us so much!
Read MoreWouldn’t it prove absolutely pointless if you were to go to the cardiologist- he diagnosed a problem then sent you home with nothing remedied? You left his office with the problem you went in with?
Read MoreEnvy wants to take another's blessing for themselves. Envy wants others to fail if its host can't succeed. Envy seeks to take what it thinks it deserves. Envy is angry and sad that someone else has something that it wants.
Read MoreHave you ever seen a mom who is crying and bemoaning the fact that her child is growing up? I’m not talking about looking back and remembering how cute their chubby cheeks were or missing them when they leave home. I’m talking about literal sorrow that they will be leaving her and her life will be over. My husband and I remind ourselves (especially me!) often that our children are not ours. They are the Lord’s. The end goal is to see them enter adulthood with a true love for the Lord and a plan to serve him with their lives. That means they will leave. Parenting isn’t about making ME happy, it’s about God’s glory.
Read MoreNow that I have 2 grown daughters and empty nest is on the horizon, I can look back at some mistakes made in building my home. I can see that sometimes there was too much rubbish in the way. Rubbish by getting angry over messes.
Read MoreLadies, if you are walking through depression or anxiety today, remember this: You are not alone. God sees you; He loves you, and He is with you. His peace is available to you.
Read MoreThat 4th verse just sticks out to me so much and it is just so convincing! Until we give our ALL to God, we will never be able to see the joy that He can bestow or the favor that He shows because it is only for those who Trust and Obey Him!
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I am sure Mary shed tears in fear for her Son, our Savior. The Bible mentions the tears of Rachel for those innocent babies that were taken in Herod's wrath. I am sure Mary wept for them as well.I saved the best for last— the reproofs of life. Thank the Lord for His love and mercy in our lives every day. He loves us so much that He is willing to correct us. Proverbs 3:11 says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:” and Proverbs 15:10 says, “Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.”.
Read MorePerspective by definition is the state of one's ideas; the facts known to one, etc; the faculty of seeing all the relevant data; a mental view or prospect. All of us have a perspective in life...how we choose to view the happenings in our lives; what we choose to believe as fact based on evidence; and the way we look at everything around us in general.
Read MoreTough times can be many different things: health issues, money problems, relationship problems, and marital problems. All of these problems can leave us overwhelmed! What do we do when we have one of these problems? Do we try and solve them ourselves? Usually if we do, we only make them worse. We need to go to the best problem solver we have, our Lord Jesus!
Read MoreRecently, my family and I were at Cracker Barrel, a restaurant that I love, and we were talking about some old memories from years gone by. Some pictures had come up on my Facebook page from when my kids were little. This caused us to talk about old times, and in the conversation, my sons started telling us some funny stories, which involved some of the rules that I had when they were little. And looking back, fifteen-plus years later, I can laugh and say I did have some funny rules for my kids, especially my oldest.
Read MoreHave you ever heard the phrase said before - "Timing is everything"? Well, there is a lot of truth to that statement when the timing is God's timing. We are told from the Scriptures that waiting on God's timing makes things beautiful (Ecclesiastes 3:11), while rushing ahead or lagging behind according to our timing turns things into a mess. Too early and too soon - both bring about disaster!
Read MoreBe willing to let go of what could have been. My dad gave up a job where he could have been making more money and we would have definitely lived a comfortable lifestyle but that was not God’s plan and I’m so thankful God had a different plan. God has blessed our family so much!
However, what do you do when in the blink of any eye, our Pastor dies? All that is familiar is gone! Your husband’s close companion gone. A thirty-three-year friendship and co-laborer gone. My children’s lifetime mentor, prayer warrior, and encourager gone. All the blessings and direction our church has received because of this one Godly man, GONE!
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