As we role into Thanksgiving week, I’m thinking how thankful for how God took the messiest parts of my story and turned them into the most miraculous.
I used to cringe at the thought of telling parts of my story. People in my small town thought that my family was a typical American family with two kids and a collie dog named Lassie. Read more…
I went to bed, pulled the covers over my head, and had a big ole pity party. Once again, I had been rejected…come in second place…told I wasn’t quite what “they” were looking for. The scarlet letter loomed large. It wasn’t an A like Hester Prynne’s in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book I had read in high school, but a big fat R that I chose to wear when life turned ugly. Read more…
How do you see yourself?
How does God see you?
Are the answers to those two questions the same?
For many years after I became a Christian, I operated under a false sense of who I really was. I had no idea the change that occurred in me the moment I accepted Christ. I did not see myself as God saw me and had no idea His truth was different from my perception of it. Read more…
It was one of the worst days of my life. Tragedy struck our family in the worst way and I was emotionally paralyzed. That’s when my friend, Mary, stepped in to do what I couldn’t. She made me a hotel reservation, called the necessary people, and said, “It’s going to be okay.”
“It’s going to be okay” is one of the most hope-filled sentiments I can offer to others, Read more…
I think one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century was the Post-It Note. First there was yellow. Then came fuchsia, turquoise, buttercup, and magenta. From full-page mega notes to tiny little strips, sticky notes have saved me from embarrassment, kept me organized, and helped me memorize. Mostly, they have served as visual reminders of information, events, and appointments not to forget. Read more…
(Let today’s devotion prepare your heart for Easter.)
Suppose I knew ahead of time that the people who cheered for me one day, would sneer at me five days later. That the people who showered me with praise one day would hurl insults the next. How would I respond to the accolades, applause, and admiration of others on a Sunday…if I knew those same people would turn their backs on me and shake their raised fists at me the following Friday? Read more…
Can I make a confession? Sometimes I quit too soon. I’ve quit when what I really needed to do was press on and press through. Sometimes I’ve gotten tired of trying. Sometimes I’ve gotten tired of the struggle. And you know what? I’ve missed many blessings because I got tired of the battle. I don’t want to do that any longer. Read more…
Steve and I were headed to the coast and stopped for our usual lunch break, Chick-fil-A, just twenty minutes from our destination. It was one last time to fill up on sweet tea.
While Steve purchased our nuggets, I took our Bernedoodle, Molly, for a walk in the grassy area between Chick-fil-A and Dunkin’.
Molly sniffed, Read more…
As a little girl, I never felt I was worth very much. I always felt that I wasn’t pretty enough, smart enough, or good enough. I sensed my parents tolerated me, but certainly didn’t delight in me. And if your own parents couldn’t love you, then who could?
Then there was the definitive day in the eleventh grade that took my self-worth to an all-time low. Read more…
We had prayed for a year and felt confident we knew God’s answer. How could we have been so wrong?
Before my husband and I graduated from college as a young married couple, we prayed that God would lead us to exactly where He wanted us to start our lives. After a year, we felt sure He had called us to a small town outside of Charlotte, Read more…