Free To Be JOYFUL

Nothing means more to me than spending time each morning with God, but have you ever felt God stirring the childlike part of you to do something a little silly?

May 17, 2019Bible, challenge, child, dance, devotion, endure, expression, free, freedom, fruit, fun, funny, Galations, gifts, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, joy, laugh, live, love, meditate, refresh, rhyme, sing, spirit

How to Know if You're Truly Free

My heart aches. My stomach churns. My mind twists and turns when I worry about those I love and grow anxious about an uncertain future. I've wasted hours, maybe days, in the past trying to plan every moment and every outcome in an effort to avoid failure, frustration and pain. And what did I get besides incredibly weary?

April 25, 2017anxious, challenge, comfort, ER, failure, free, freedom, frustration, God, guide, heart, love, overwhelming, pain, plans, Present over Perfect, quotes, Shauna Niequist, simple, trust, weary

The Circle of Love

"Jesus consistently moves toward the people who know they are not enough."

I read the words again and again after a long dry season of asking God just where He is. My faith reassures me He is with me, but I can't feel Him, and I so need to feel Him when people around me are uber-productive, hyper-busy and seemingly on their way to the top while I'm unfocused and feeling like a failure. Just Who defines the top, and why are so many of us striving to get there? Where exactly is there?

February 10, 2017assurance, believe, blessing, busy, circle of life, circle of love, comfort, encouragement, enough, failure, faith, feel, focused, free, freedom, friendship, God, hope, Jesus, life, light, live, love, meaning, new life, not enough, nothing to prove, peace, productive, read, satisfy, searching, self-esteem, striving, struggle, surrender, unfocused, unloved, unwanted, unworthy, value, worth

Listen to Your Heart

So you know how most of us are just trying to do the right thing? Think of others first. Love, live, laugh. Help each other. Hold one another. Hang on one day at a time... Why, then, do some people try to throw a cloak of shame over tender hearts that were so close to being healed? Why would anyone want to hurt another person in the name of "religious truth?"

When you feel criticized and judged, listen to your heart. That's where the Spirit of Jesus Christ resides.

December 2, 2016behavior, believe, Bible, blessing, blessings, Christ, criticism, direction, faith, freedom, God, goodness, grace, guilt, hang on, heart, help, hope, hurt, Jesus, joy, judgment, kindness, laugh, legalism, life path, listen, live, Lord, love, new life, peace, receive, rejection, relationships, religion, self-esteem, self-worth, shame, spirit, trials, truth, understand, unworthy, wisdom, worth

A Long and Winding Road

...my life and the lives of so many people I know imitate the life of that tree.

November 10, 2016accountability, authentic, Bible, Christ, decisions, faith, forgive, freedom, gifts, God, grace, gratitude, hurt, journey, joy, love, meditate, mentor, peace, redis, relationships, search, straight, trees, turns, twists, Vineyard Church of Columbus, walk, worry

Worth Talking About

I'm walking away from an extremely unhealthy eighteen year marriage. It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The past two days have been particularly difficult as I struggled to find something to be grateful for. Feeling so low on Sunday I simply thanked God for the sunshine. That was the best I could do.