Pray Without Pressure
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV) Some call it “pressure of speech.” My family calls it “verbal diarrhea.” An inelegant but accurate description....
Calling Out God’s Character
It was completely out of character. Surely my husband would never talk to me that way. Or treat me like that. Stunned and devastated, I couldn’t even recognize the man beside me, let alone communicate with him. It was a tearful, emotional night, but eventually we...
Why I Hate Prayer Requests (But Love Prayer)
It never failed. Every Bible study or women’s ministry gathering would reach “that time.” A moment I looked forward to with a peculiar mixture of longing and dread. “Does anyone have any prayer requests?” “Prayer request time” usually went something like this: one by...
Casting My (List of) Burdens on the Lord
It was one of those weeks. Weighed down with worry, I was so tired and discouraged I could hardly move. It was all I could do to drag myself from one day to the next. Finally I decided to list all my concerns on paper. I hoped if I wrote them down, perhaps I could put...
Why Two (or More) Are Better Than One
When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there. Matthew 18:20 (The Message) part·ner ˈpärt-nər 1. One...
ABCs of Volunteer Networking
It’s a sad but common cry in the volunteer world: “I put my name down to help—but no one ever called me.” It doesn’t seem fair, does it? All you want to do is serve at your child’s school—and the next thing you know you’re back in junior high, parked against the wall,...
I’m a wife, mother, writer, speaker . . . and a woman fully reclaimed by God. In other words, just an ordinary gal . . . living an extraordinary life.
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you; Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering.”
-Romans 12:1