Tweet There was a time in my life when I did things people considered really brave. Like moving to the other side of the world or jumping out of a plane or going on vacation to a foreign country by myself. Then I got married, got a normal job, and starting having kids. I didn’t feel like anything I was doing was very brave. Life felt routine and boring. And I just wanted to sit around and watch Netflix all day because I had lost my way in the midst of the ordinary. Maybe you find yourself in the same situation. Maybe you wake up everyday and look around…
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Reckless Love
Tweet Luke 15 may be one of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible. The chapter opens with a whole bunch of sinners hanging around Jesus to hear His words. This scene causes the Pharisees (read religious people) to grumble under their breath about how Jesus hangs out with the “rough crowd.” They think it’s an absolute abomination Jesus is hanging out with them. Jesus, catching the vibe they were giving off, launches into a series of stories, the first of which references a shepherd. A shepherd who loses one of his sheep and leaves the 99 to go find the lost sheep. When he finds the lost sheep,…
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Being Brave Everyday
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He Shall Be Your Peace
Tweet 10 days past my due date, I sat in a local coffee shop working on my Advent study. I had given up on work because I had just about given up on being pregnant. Plus I was pretty sure if I heard “your still here?!” one more time, I might punch someone. The central verse of the day came from Micah 5:5 which begins “And He shall be your peace.” For some reason, the verse stood out to me. I had been praying over a word for 2018 and in that moment, I felt like I had found my word. Little did I know just a few hours…
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The Last 24 Hours
Tweet If you want to emulate Christ, you must know Christ. And so often, I think the American church has got it all wrong. I don’t think it is fair or right to point fingers and there are many Christians and churches who are doing it right. Ultimately, I think each of us must evaluate our own lives in light of the life of Christ. Are we seeking to live like He did? As I have blogged about quite a bit recently, the idea of hospitality and serving others seems to continue to be a theme God is pressing into my soul. I think it is because for so many…
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Being Brave Everyday
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A Hug and A Quick Chat
Tweet A few years ago, one of my dearest friends-we will call her M- moved to California. Her husband got a dream job and it was the right move for their family, but man, was it tough on me. We went to visit them shortly after they moved and a few weeks ago they were back in town for the first time since they left. (thankfully they have family here so every once in awhile they might come visit!) We snagged a few minutes to chat over my lunch before they left town again and it was water to my soul. And a reminder of why I miss her so…
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Being Brave Everyday
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Big Hospitality
Tweet The other day I was driving, just minding my own business and listening to the latest audiobook I had downloaded when BAM! out the blue I was sitting in my car, tears rolling down my face, wondering why in the world I ever thought listening to audiobooks was better than the mindless music on the radio. The book I am listening to is on friendship, apropos for the season of life I find myself in-both desperately needing community and desperately wanting to sit alone with my thoughts and without anyone clamoring for something. This specific chapter was on hospitality and I feel the need to listen to it 100…
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Being Brave Everyday
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This Moment
Tweet Blog writing comes in fits and starts for me. I get super gung-ho about it and write all the time or I barely post for months on end. This is not the best way to grow a blog or gain followers I realize and a lot of it comes down to my own insecurities. I get stuck in a rut feeling like I have nothing to say or contribute so I simply stop. Any writer will tell you this is something you absolutely cannot do. Over the past few months, I have done a lot of thinking, soul-searching, and self-development. I realized I was living from a scarcity mentality…
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Being Brave Everyday
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Be a Cheerleader, not a Competitor
Tweet Ever notice how sometimes themes tend to run through your life? Lately, a theme of running in your own lane has been weaving its way through several areas of my life. A few weeks ago, I had the amazing opportunity to attend Q Conference in Nashville with a group from my city. Honestly, any other conference I go to from now on will be judged against Q. It was hands down one of the best conferences I have attended. Perhaps because over a period of 2.5 days, we heard approximately 50 different speakers. Talk about information overload! I am still trying to process it all. Annie F. Downs gave…
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Being Brave Everyday
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Put Down the Expectations
Tweet My word for the year was authenticity. And right now, being authentic means admitting to myself (and ya’ll) my expectations set me up for a dark dive into struggle. See, buying your dream farmhouse with dreams to fix it up is very different from living in said dream farmhouse in need of fixing up. Pinterest boards full of Farmhouse decor are exciting, but ants covering your counters and bathrooms not working are not. I have spent hours aimlessly wandering or doing nothing because I am so overwhelmed by it all. Perhaps though the aimless wandering gave me ample time for much needed soul-searching. I realized in all this expectations…
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Being Brave Everyday
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Stop Striving and Start Seeking
Tweet Every once in a while I miss reading actual books because you cannot highlight and write in audio books. I am a highlighter of books. If you ever borrow one from me, they will have marks and double underlines and “yes” and “Amen” written in them. When I switched to the world of audio books because I have a toddler who refuses to sit still, I find I miss being about to go back and reference lines or quotes from the books. Occasionally, something hits me so hard, I hit pause, reverse, and hit pause again to write down a line. Near the end of one of my most recent…
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Being Brave Everyday