DAY 6: THE CHRISTMAS BANQUET Come and sit. There’s a Christmas banquet that’s been prepared for you – a feast like none you’ve ever seen. The white table cloth spreads out before you with bright red cloth napkins rolled up and tied with a red ribbon holding a sprig of holly and shiny […]
DAY FOUR: COME JUST AS YOU ARE We’ve reflected over the last week about what it means to come…Come, let us adore Him. Our study guide on day one taught us that “erchomai,” the Greek word for “come,” is better translated, “to begin something new.” People may feel December winds down the […]
The holidays are upon us. Today is the 2nd biggest shopping day of the year, with over 100 million people braving the stores, so today’s message may be just what we need to kick off the celebrations in an intentionally joyful mindset! For many of us, we are hoping to push through the […]
As I take a step closer, smells of death fill my nostrils and turn my stomach. He moves toward me slowly and the sound of his large, heavy feet crushing the rocks beneath him sound like the crushing of bones, bones of all those who have died by his hand. His enormous body strangely […]
You thought you had a handle on it. You thought things were going so well. How, then, could you possibly be here…again?? “What a screw up. You’re never gonna get this right. I thought you were smarter than this. This must just be who you really are. Your kids/husband/family/friends are better off […]
When my husband and I were deciding what day to commemorate as the anniversary of the restoration of our marriage, it would have made sense to choose the day he moved back into our home after being separated. But after some discussing, we chose the day he left. Because that was the day God […]
Maybe you’ve screwed up as a mom. Maybe you wish you could go back and do things differently…so, so differently. Maybe you wish you had taught them more, nagged them less. Maybe you see all of your mistakes in them and wonder what happened – I should have made them get […]
It’s brutal feeling betrayed by your best friend. The one who is supposed to protect you and keep you from danger is the very one who makes you feel unsafe, confused, not good enough. The pain can be brutal, even tormenting. “Et tu, Brute?” meaning “Even you, Brutus?” is the phrase from Shakespeare’s […]
Fear can blind you, sink its teeth into you, drain you, and leave you gasping for air. Fear is a sneaky little emotion that used to cause me a lot of trouble and still likes to lurk around every once-in-awhile. It can creep in unnoticed, spread quickly, and take over everything like a tricky […]
Here is a prayer I should have been praying the first fifteen years of our marriage instead of trying desperately to control my husband and our circumstances. I learned that even if your circumstances don’t change right away, your heart and mind can. Begin by allowing God to change you, and other things will begin […]