Dearly Beloved,
You are loved by our Lord. He delights in you. He desires that you know him. He wants to meet with you daily. His ear attends to your every call. Yes, He knows your fears and doubts. He knows all of your shortcomings. He can see even those sins that you can’t and yet… He loves you.
He says, “Yes! You are mine. Dearly Beloved, you are mine. I love you just as you are.Continue Reading
Every Christmas I always love reading through the Christmas story. And every time I read the story, I’m always struck by Mary’s response to the miraculous message she received from the angel Gabriel. If you’re familiar with the story you know that one day when Mary was going about her daily routine, an angel appears out of nowhere telling her that she was highly favored. She had no idea what that meant, and she was afraid. The angel goes on to say that she would give birth to a son whom she would name Jesus. This special child would be called a child of the Most High and He would rule on David’s throne forever.
Awesome sauce! (My new favorite phrase. )
Now imagine you’re a young woman (somewhere between 14-19), you’re engaged to be married, and minding your own business and an angel shows up with this “good news”. You’re about to have the long awaited Messiah. You are responsible for raising this special child who would fulfill the prophecies. You.Continue Reading
I’m in my 40s. And I’ve realized that I’ve lived most of my life in boxes. Boxes that others have made for me. Boxes I’ve created for myself. Boxes that society says that I must live in. And yet… the Holy Spirit continues to woo me to the spacious, free, and open life that He has prepared for me.
I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are LOTS of “have to’s” that we each live by. Many of them come from “the experts”, from our parents, from our teachers, etc. We are continually taught these hard and fast rules about life. This is what you MUST do to be ….. a success. A good person. Responsible. Have a good life. Be a good christian. And on and on. This is the path you MUST follow or you WILL destroy your life. Now let me say that everything that we’re taught, isn’t bad. Much is really good and we need to hold onto those things. We especially hold on to the truth of God’s word, for it is ALWAYS TRUE. And we need to live within the laws of our society as along as they don’t go against God’s higher order.
But there are things that we are taught, that are accepted as an absolute truth, but aren’t.Continue Reading
It’s so easy to focus our efforts on the things that give us quick results. It makes us feel like we’ve accomplished something. As if our work was not in vain. Clean dishes. Beautiful hair. A child reciting their math facts. A well-behaved kid. High SAT scores. A good job.
But think about it.
Do we want quick results or lasting results?