What does it mean to be grateful? Why does gratefulness matter? The Lord began to talk to me about gratefulness the other day, so I began digging into what the word means. I already had a sense that it was beyond thankfulness, so I pulled up several dictionaries in an attempt to gain greater understanding. My sense was correct. Although the words thankful and grateful are synonyms and often used interchangeable, there are a couple differences. Thankfulness generally means being conscious of receiving a benefit or material good. Gratefulness goes a step beyond being conscious or receiving into being appreciative of what was received. Additionally, although both usually involve a moment of pleasure, gratefulness additionally involves contentment. I think Philippians 4:11b-13, where Paul says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have […]

I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,     and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,     for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come     and shower righteousness upon you.’ Hosea 10:12 NLT I keep hearing God say: “Seeds of righteousness.” I believe that just like with regular seeds, some spiritual seeds have seasons. But I’m seeing that we should be planting righteousness in every season. Not self-righteousness, but actual righteousness. I believe this is a word for many right now. Has the Lord been talking to you about seeds or righteousness lately?  While seeds of righteousness are at the forefront, the Lord has also been talking to me about growth cycles in different areas of my life. In some areas of our spiritual walk, we plant seeds once, and then they grow our whole life, like a […]

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This picture has been on my vision board all year, but up until today, I hadn’t paid much attention to the “hand in hand” part. I’ve been walking with God for years, sometimes more closely than others. But I’m not sure that I’ve done much hand-holding. I feel like the Lord said to me, “If you are holding my hand, you will never get too far ahead or too far behind me.” I seem to be the type of person who likes to rush ahead when I know where we are going, and when I can’t, then I give up and lag a good way behind without even noticing. Neither one of those is possible when holding hands. I want to always be holding God’s hand so I can sense the tug when I get just a bit ahead or behind and correct my position. Growing up, whenever we went […]

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed multiple moments where I felt rather dissatisfied and discontent. The interesting and troubling thing about these feelings is that they weren’t during frustrating, trying, or even mundane moments. Instead, these feelings have come at moments where I expected to find contentment, deep happiness, and feelings of fulfillment. They’ve come at moments where I was in beautiful and peaceful places and in times where I should have felt deep connection with others. I couldn’t muster up those positive feelings and ended up wondering what was wrong with me. I was annoyed with myself for not feeling thankful or fulfilled. In one of those moments, an old song came to mind: “When Nothing Satisfies.” Those moments and feelings came to mind this past Sunday as I was singing in worship. God started talking to me about this frustration I was feeling. He reminded me about […]

Much of the modern-day church is missing one of the most important pieces of the Christian life. This missing piece has led to luke-warm christianity, pharisee behavior, false teachings, and acceptance of many things from the kingdom of darkness. It has led to a generation of Christians gripped by fear, suffering from anxiety and depression, who can be even more divisive than unbelievers. I was a Christian for over 30 years before I realized that God was trying to talk to me all the time. I thought He only spoke occasionally—like, for really big things—and that I would perhaps hear Him maybe 10 times in my life. Well, actually, I thought He was often speaking to me, but only through scripture. So anything scripture didn’t cover, God wasn’t able to speak to me about. As a side note, I now realize that there were times I thought God was the […]

…in our homes and in our hearts. As I was quieting myself for time with the Lord, I was distracted thinking about all the after-Christmas clean up my home needs. I’ve got bags and bows that need to be stored for another year or tossed out if there isn’t room. The garage is full of boxes that need to be broken down and recycled. My tree and decorations need to be packed up and put away until next year. There are toys everywhere. I have things that the kids have already broken that are waiting to be fixed. There are many things to do, but with the kids still home from school, not so much time to do it. Perhaps your home is like mine in this season. And as I was setting aside these thoughts to listen for the Lord, He said, “What about the clutter in your heart?” […]

2020 has been quite a year. Currently, here in the United States, we are somewhere in the middle of finding out the results of an intense and polarizing presidential election. While my experience is limited to my small circle, it seems that many people are losing their peace while watching election results roll in. I’ve only recently learned how to remain in God’s peace, but I really wish more believers would take hold of this right that they have as Christians—we have a right to peace (Philippians 4:7). When election day was drawing closer, we were reminded repeatedly to exercise our right to vote. Many people didn’t take advantage of their right. Only 66% of those who were eligible voted this year, and that happens to be the highest percentage turnout for an election in over a century! I hope you voted. But even more than that, I hope you […]

What if God wants to use your “least favorite option” and change it into a “best case scenario”? When we partner with God and listen to Him, we can find peace and joy where we only expected pain and misery. When we let God take the lead, we learn that, with Him, nothing is impossible for us. But we have to learn to walk with, to follow, and to listen to Him so closely. We need to pursue the Father’s heart like Jesus did—who only did what He saw His Father doing. (John 5:19-20) If you have time for the TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) personal anecdotes, see below. I haven’t had much time to write these days. With the summer and now with schools in our county only offering virtual learning, most of my time and energy is focused on my callings of being a mom, wife, and homeschool […]