Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “faith thoughts”
This year has been an interesting year, one that has taken twists and turns I did not anticipate when the year started. When I first got my word of the year in late December, I’ll admit I had not idea what it meant or why it was my word. In fact it struck me as an incredibly strange choice. Did …
I ran across this saying a few weeks ago, and it’s been pinging across my brain a lot. Maybe you’re not like me. Maybe you don’t struggle with feelings if insecurity or inadequacy. Maybe you’re first reaction to requests for a conversation isn’t “what did I do wrong?” Ever wonder “why not me?” @Cara_putman suggests keep your eyes on your …
there’s been this one circumstance that has not gone at all like I expected. I researched, I planned, I prayed. And it has been a shadow over this year. And right about the time I hope, pray and plead that it is over, it looks to ramp up again…For all of us I know these truths remain.
God is good.
God never changes.
He loves me completely.
And He will turn this into good.
Thoughts trapping you in a spiral? Look up and out.
One of the places we went last week was the Uffizi Gallery. If you’ve read Shadowed by Grace, you know that some pivotal scenes in that book happen at the Uffizi, so it was an absolute thrill to go there last year on a tour with the students. But when you tour with a group, you don’t get to savor and enjoy the art. It’s a rush to the five or so paintings that the art critics consider important, and then you move on to the next painting or place. This year we wanted to savor and soak in. I didn’t expect revelation as we did.
The other day the kids and I were driving along and saw the above sight. It was absolutely priceless and felt like we had stepped into the book Make Way for Ducklings. When we first arrived the mother was in the road at the side with her 12 or 13 ducklings next to her. Cars slowed for her, but went …
What has resonated in my heart with startling clarity is the idea that God is I AM. Not I was (You’re too late. If you’d come earlier, I could have helped you, but it’s too late. You’ve missed your window. So sorry.). Not I will be (You’re too early. You’re not ready. You’re not good enough. You’re not clean enough. You have too much sin still coating your life). Instead, He is the I AM. I AM enough. I AM the perfect sacrifice. I AM the one who took care of it all. I AM the one with a plan. I AM the way. In this moment, I AM.
Now that we’re two months into the year, the word makes a whole lot more sense and is shaking the foundations of my world. There was one last, big I’ll never on my list, and it looks like God is asking me to lay that one down. I kind of hoped He’d forgotten about it, but no such luck. So while I’m getting a sense of where God is going, I’m still not 100% certain, and that’s part of the fun on the journey.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how to find Your Word for 2017. A logical question several of you had was, “Now that I have my word, now what?”
That’s a great question, so today I wanted to share ten ways that a Word can help direct your year. You may find that some or none of these apply to you. If you’ve used the word in other ways, I would love to learn about those, so be sure to leave a comment.
A word can give you a prayer focus. If God has given you a word, a next step is to begin to ask God why. What does He want you to learn as you focus on the word?
The calendar has flipped to a new month and year. Ready or not, we are embarking on the new year, a chapter in the book of our lives. I’m trying to be intentional about how I embark on this new year. One way I do that is by asking God if there is a theme He wants to work …