My Dad, who loved Christmas and being with family so very much, passed away just days after Christmas two years ago. As I sit looking at my home, decorated as it always is this time of year, with the word “JOY” literally all over the place, tears well up in my eyes, again. I missContinue reading “He stepped into our brokenness.”
Tag Archives: hold on
He is doing what He promised.
“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God”. (Luke 18:27) Lately, I see so much that seems impossible, and wrong. How dark the world seems right now. Just turn on the news and you’ll know what I mean. (Or, maybe don’t 😳) But how dark, how impossible, it surely seemed over twoContinue reading “He is doing what He promised.”
Your hard thing might be the VERY thing…
My eyes keep going back to that word in 1st Peter 3:15– Hope. And I remember it was hope that drew me to Jesus. It was the hope I saw in others, that I didn’t understand but desperately wanted. Theirs was a hope that made no earthly sense—a hope not based on circumstances. In fact,Continue reading “Your hard thing might be the VERY thing…”
I’m a grandma and funny thing…
When I was younger, I’d look at women that I now resemble in the mirror and think, “I’ll have it all together then….” I remember thinking, they are wise. They know what to do every single time a concern heads their way—in less than ten seconds probably. I thought I’d feel like a wise grownContinue reading “I’m a grandma and funny thing…”
When the tears won’t dry this side of Heaven…
It’s a passage that has always seemed so sad to me – John 6:41-71. Jesus has just said some hard things about what following Him really looks like and “from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” (John 6:66). Surely, as John wrote those words, the faces ofContinue reading “When the tears won’t dry this side of Heaven…”
I want to be on the other side…
I want to be on the other side. You know the other side of the current problem impacting my life. I want to feel the rejoicing that comes AFTER the pain and worry have subsided. I know what that is like.I’ve seen God be faithful before. But right now.I’m in the “not yet”. I’m inContinue reading “I want to be on the other side…”
How do you keep going when life is crashing down?
What do you do when you get the phone call, the diagnosis, the news you never saw coming? What about the hard thing thet you thought wouldn’t still be this hard? What then? Are you destined to continually be consumed by the trouble and pain and spiral further downward into a pit of despairing emotions?Continue reading “How do you keep going when life is crashing down?”
Be Living Proof to a Lost World
When Christians lose hope, it’s a sign to the lost world that we don’t really believe what we say we believe. (See Phil 1:28-29) People who have lost hope are driven by fear. But what does fear look like in the day to day? It’s not that we often see fellow Christians running around screamingContinue reading “Be Living Proof to a Lost World”
Hold on. It’s worth it.
Surely, I’m not the only one who used to believe that once you become a Christian life will go easy. But the truth is, real faith is far from easy. The book of Luke tells us, Simeon’s eyes finally beheld the Promised One. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, thisContinue reading “Hold on. It’s worth it.”
Don’t have faith on your own faith.
Don’t have faith in your own faith. Keep looking to God. The enemy would love for you to believe you are the only one whose faith has faltered. But this is not biblical. Throughout Scripture, God allows us to peak into the lives of some of the most faithful when they were the least faithful.Continue reading “Don’t have faith on your own faith.”
Will we hang on when it gets hard?
It’s easy to say “yes” to Heaven, but are we ready to face the affliction that might come because we follow Christ? Are we ready for that? Will our kids be? Paul and Silas had been beaten and jailed in Philippi because of the gospel. Their joy, as they sat in prison singing hymns, hadContinue reading “Will we hang on when it gets hard?”
Put on your armor and keep standing.
My daughter, Abi, wrote this a few years back. This truth is a powerful, keep-you-going reminder— I felt alone. Sad, disheartened, fighting back tears-very much like an alien and stranger though surrounded by others my age as I sat in my Contemporary Moral Issues Philosophy class, at the University of Tennessee, listening to my classmatesContinue reading “Put on your armor and keep standing.”
48 years ago today.
August 16, 1977, I was sitting in a car with my mom when the news came over the radio—Elvis Presley had died. Forty-eight years ago today and I still remember watching my mom being visibly upset. I was only eight but quickly became obsessed with this famous person who had died so tragically, so young.Continue reading “48 years ago today.”
When I’m tired. When I’m hurting.
When I’m tired …When I’m hurting… I desperately need to hear God’s Words above the emotions swimming in my mind. Life is difficult.People are difficult. Sometimes, it would be so much easier to live my life for Jesus if it were not for other people–the ones who hurt you and never apologize, the ones whoContinue reading “When I’m tired. When I’m hurting.”
When it doesn’t go as you expect
I snapped a picture as my daughter and I drove near Asheville a few years ago. I was traveling to speak nearby, and I wanted to show her where our family had lived when she and her brothers were little. How we had loved living there. As those glorious mountains spread out before us, treesContinue reading “When it doesn’t go as you expect”
Misunderstood? Maligned? Here’s some encouragement
They said he was bold with his letters and wimpy in person. They said he preached with impure motives to draw attention to himself. They said he was flesh controlled rather than spirit-controlled. These words had to cut especially deep considering all Paul had endured to bring the good news of the gospel to thoseContinue reading “Misunderstood? Maligned? Here’s some encouragement”
Hope for our Hearts
Today would be my Dad’s 95th birthday. This is the second one without him here. He loved birthdays, and family, and being the center (and life) of the party. To say our family misses him is an understatement. My Dad taught me so many things, but one thing stands out to me in this yearContinue reading “Hope for our Hearts”
Hard days? Long for REST?
I don’t have answers to life’s questions. God knows I have many, many questions. I long for Him.I want to understand Him.I want to follow Him. But, if I am honest, I also want life to be stable, predictable and easy. When hard days come, I want to immediately see what God is doing andContinue reading “Hard days? Long for REST?”
God knows it’s hard to watch.
As I lay praying this morning, I found myself telling the Lord how very hard it was to watch those I love walk in things that I know are, or will, hurt them. It’s gut-wrenchingly hard. Then, it occurred to me, that God certainly knows how very hard this is. I wasn’t informing Him ofContinue reading “God knows it’s hard to watch.”
Keep on. For those you love and those you may never meet.
Ministry is hard. There has been more than once I’ve wanted to stop sharing about Jesus, and pull away, and just love those who are easy to love and believe what I believe about the faith and the Word. Recently, I’ve been tossing and turning with thoughts of escaping to a desert island, because, asContinue reading “Keep on. For those you love and those you may never meet.”