It feels fresh, tinged with the excitement of the new. Yet welcoming a new season also brings those latent feelings of uncertainty. After the initial joy of embracing our favorite parts of the new season, life reminds us change often sparks anxiety. Of course, not all change is bad, but navigating any change in a healthy way presents a challenge….
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Welcoming a New Season
If You Held the Pen
If you held the pen, how would you write your story? Urged into owning and telling your story by popular culture today, may excite feelings of regret or shame. Conversely, slipping into a bit of pride over achievements may unleash a one-dimensional exposé. Whether we choose telling our story or simply holding it, our perspective on its value determines whether…
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Autumn Acorns Speak of God’s Love
Celebrating the official arrival of my favorite season, I marveled at the activity in the garden. Goldfinches gathering seeds, cardinals fluffing their nests, and squirrels, the busiest of all, gathering hickory nuts and acorns! As I gathered a handful or two, a story from long ago of autumn acorns speaking God’s love brought a smile to my face. Autumn’s flamboyance…
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How Hope Heals Your Heart
So much in this world seeks to wound us. And in the wounding steals our Hope. At times, awash in grief, or simply noting the tragedy in the headlines, we wonder if Hope even has value anymore. But true, biblical Hope offers the most powerful answer to life’s sufferings. This month my One Word Friend revealed an important truth; Hope…
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What Are You Missing?
FOMO, it’s a thing. In fact, Psych Central recognizes it as a valid mental disorder requiring therapy. While predominately connected to social media addiction, it seems its tentacles reach into other areas such as social gatherings, events, even the latest gossip or news. The constant question, “What Are You Missing?” drives most people to literal distraction. In all of our…
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Recapturing the Art of Wonder
Walking life’s hard paths after a while challenges your resilience, steals your Joy and mocks your Hope. Burdens weigh heavier and placing one foot in front of the other becomes the theme song of most days. But what if instead of continuing to carry weighted sorrows, you chose exchanging the dreary for delight, recapturing the art wonder? When life’s sorrows…
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The Substance of Life
“For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14) Working in hospice, I meet people at the end of life’s journey. While these moments remain some of the hardest to hold, they also offer the greatest wisdom. For in the waning moments of one’s days, the true…
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Do You Not Remember?
Gifted with an excellent memory, I rarely struggle in bible memorization, recalling important dates, or even remembering the details of an old recipe. But one day recently, God brought me up short with one simple question, “Do you not remember?” Upon completion of a daily scripture meditation in my Lectio 365 on a passage contained in Mark 8:17-21, where Jesus…
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August Appreciation: Share Four Somethings
Waving farewell to another month, I rejoice in a glance back at my August Appreciation joining Jennifer Goodwin as she hosts a monthly feature called, Share Four Somethings, where writers share the fourth Saturday of each month something in each of four categories from the previous month. Many readers notice I choose a theme for each month, which often reflects lessons or themes from…
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