Sunday morning, I weaved my way through the crowd and found my seat up front. Late as always, worship was already in full swing. The words of the second congregational song filled my ears . . . Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Your perfect love is casting out… Continue reading Caught in the Middle
“For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:11 ESV I recently watched a movie where the hero’s family is trapped inside a burning skyscraper. In one scene, amongst the flames and burning… Continue reading Brave Enough to be Broken
I shared this on my Facebook page this morning, but it just felt too good not to share here. For me, because I want to remember this day and these truths. And for others, because my heart feels like I might explode if I don’t tell as many people as I can. So they might… Continue reading Greater Than the Fire
Day 2: July 8, 2017 I thought I already knew that God loves me, I mean really loves me. I grew up singing “Jesus, loves me, this I know,” but in my teens and early twenties, I followed after things that could never satisfy and was met with a lot of shame. But God —… Continue reading Lessons Cancer is Teaching Me
“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows [my shame] that weighed him down.” Isaiah 53:4a NLT I pulled the lid off a box labeled “memories.” Inside, it spilled over with cards, letters, ticket stubs and journals. As I took them out piece by piece, I wasn’t feeling nostalgic. Fear gripped my… Continue reading He Stood In My Shame
(Author’s Note: There are so many great scriptures pertaining to our physical and spiritual health. Many of them have encouraged and convicted me, and I will share a few of them here scattered throughout the text. However, as I was reading Psalm 107 recently, I came to the realization that this is the perfect passage… Continue reading Sick, Healed and Already Complete
“Our Father in heaven . . . forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Matthew 6:9, 12 Forgiveness is such a sticky word. We all know it, and we know that we are supposed to practice it. But knowing and doing are two separate things. We would like to put our… Continue reading Forgiving & Being Forgiven
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” ~David, Psalm 42:5a I can’t do this anymore. I want to quit. I want to quit. I want to quit. My mind races with these self-defeating, negative thoughts. It’s like a mantra, a bad theme song that won’t go… Continue reading The Struggle is Real
“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’” Isaiah 43:1 (emphasis mine) I first heard the Lord call my name as a young girl. The summer I turned… Continue reading My Redemption Story
“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’” Isaiah 43:1 She was only 14, just a couple months shy of her fifteenth birthday. Hundreds of miles away from home,… Continue reading My Struggle With Depression
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