I enjoy playing games, and I certainly prefer to win over losing, but it’s important in life for us to always see ourselves as winners. The Bible says we have been given every spiritual gift in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). But we didn’t receive this promise because of our good looks… no, we’ve been showered with gifts from heaven because we ...
Perfection. That thing we are all silently striving for. Have you ever thought why? What is it about perfection that drives us as humans? We want to be the perfect parent, perfect spouse, perfect at our craft, with the perfect body, perfect teeth, perfect home, etc, etc, etc. It’s exhausting to think about, yet perfection remains this thing we all ...
When I give you the answer to this question, don’t stop reading. HOW DO I FORGIVE MYSELF, you ask? The answer is: simply by faith. I know that’s not what you’re looking for. You want the 1,2,3 steps of punishment and/or discipline. Well, I’m here to tell you the Bible doesn’t lay it out that way. Religion, the devil, and your ...
I turned 16 my sophomore year of high school. I hadn’t yet had my first real boyfriend but I had a lot of “guy” friends in my group. Most of my “girl” friends were girlfriends to someone. I always felt like the only one not wanted by a guy. And because I wasn’t saved and didn’t have an identity in ...
In the famous children’s novel, Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts is an interesting character. Overseeing the kingdom with the King of Hearts, she changes from pleasant to enraged every other minute. At the slightest offense, she shouts, “Off with their heads!” It seems ordering executions is one of her hobbies. However, as the story goes, very few were ...
A faith to live by. A purpose to live for. A self to live with. It took me awhile to understand each of these, but I now know without any hesitation that these three are a must (not an option). “But without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, ...
I have a confession to make… One of my biggest battles is distractions. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. If something new pops in my head, or I hear something near me (people talking, a news program, middle of a movie dialog, whatever), I am immediately drawn to turn my attention off what I was doing and on to the ...
I don’t remember why I was there, since we had a washing machine at home, but I have a faint memory of a being at a laundry mat as a child and watching the swish, swish, swish of the old glass-top washers. On the outside, the constant sloshing of water could almost lull you to sleep. But on the inside ...
“They treat you like an animal so you’ll act like an animal, so they can kill you like an animal.” When I was a child, I remember hearing a lot of talk about a TV mini-series called Roots, but I was too young to watch it. I’m now a fan of historical events of any kind, so when I saw ...
I’m a hugger — or at least, I used to be. Lately, I’ve realized that although I’m still more of a hugger versus handshakes when it comes to greetings, I’ve slowly withdrawn from deep hugs. I didn’t know I’d done that until a good friend gave me a bear hug the other day and it filled me up like I’d just taken ...
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 When I look at certain faces in a crowd, I want to ask them, “Who told you you were naked?” This is the same question God asked Adam and Eve when they hid from Him in the garden after committing the first sin (Genesis 3:11). Shame made them withdraw from God–but shame is ...
I recently listened to a podcast by Steven Furtick and he said something I wholeheartedly agree with: Everybody’s running from something or somebody. Even if that somebody is themselves. Isn’t that the truth? It’s hard enough to face the bully problem in this generation–the put-downs, beat-downs, ridicule, threats, and so on–but what if the bully is YOU (against you)? It honestly ...