About the Author

Anna works full-time for DaySpring from Minnesota, where she lives with her husband and four kids. Anna is the author of A Moment of Christmas and Pumpkin Spice for Your Soul, and she shares the good stuff of the regular, encouraging you to see the ordinary glory in your everyday.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
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  1. Anna,
    A year and a half ago I was in the recliner after knee surgery. I was given instructions to not even put weight on it for a month. No walking without crutches (which was extremely awkward at best), no driving…I was in a desert wasteland. It forced me to be still. In the stillness came the inspiration to start my blog (my stream in the desert) and it has been a true lesson in God’s faithfulness, love and provision.

    Ironically after foot surgery (this time) I’m being called to help on a grass roots level to help start a Christian School in Pakistan where childhood labor and slavery are prevalent. I’m not exactly sure where this stream is going to lead…but I feel called to follow.

    I am also learning that sometimes I am so stubborn that God has to go to great lengths (surgery) to get me to just be still…I’m working on this. Thanks for the call, this morning, to be calm and still so that I can hear His voice.
    Blessings,
    Bev

  2. He never stops working and shining in us although our feelings say different at times. It is in knowing and trusting who He is and through the reading of His Word that those times are made easier as we journey through them. TRUST HIM. He loves us so!

  3. I’m in a dry place too, friend. Between pregnancy hormones and keeping up with normal life, I’m spent. God is showing me in this place how deeply I need him. No amount of sleep or proper eating or vitamins will put my spirit right — only Him. I don’t know where these streams in the desert are leading, only closer to Him, with less of me. Thanks for your words, especially when they’re hard to come by.

    • Amanda- you are so right: “No amount of sleep or proper eating or vitamins will put my spirit right — only Him” . I’ve fallen prey to thinking I can fix myself so many times… and then fall flat on my face… and He fixes me. It’s a beautiful thing.

  4. I’ve been in that dried up wasteland with nothing left to give before…It’s not a good place but every time I find myself there, I seem to run across this verse : )
    Thanks so much for sharing your struggles and confirming for us all that we are NOT ALONE!
    I’ve got a new pathway working in the “attitude” department… and I know God’s hand was on our committee as we just finished calling a new pastor to our church!
    Blessings on all you gals today!

  5. God used Chronic illness to get my attention and to help me realize that I needed to slow down and quit striving, and start depending solely on Him. It has been quite a journey, but I would not trade the things that I have learned. Sometimes, what looks like a desert is really a place of renewal and refreshment. If we look past the trials and circumstances, we will see the things that He longs for us to see.

  6. Anna,
    Thanks for your blog today.

    I have no idea where the path that I’m on is leading. I had to resign my job on June 2, and have completed many job apps since then, with not one single response. I am trusting God . . . not always easy. I am sure I’m supposed to use this time to grow closer to God, to spend more time with him, and yet, I’ve not done so. Now, I’m scheduled for surgery this Friday, and as Bev said in her post, it’s one way God will slow me down.

    Why is it that we know what we’re supposed to do, yet we don’t do it?

    Blessings,
    Edwina

    • Prayers for a successful surgery. May God guide the doctor’s hands and bring about complete healing. May He also bring about a slowing down & resting in Him.

      Prayers that a good job will come about soon! God is good ALL the TIME! We just have to wait on His timing!

      Blessings 🙂

  7. I feel like all of you have been in the room with me this morning. In January of this year I had a near death experience which brought me to the realization that God is not finished with me and the He had an awesome assignment for me. I began a blog and I am constantly second guessing myself on whether or not I am to be doing this. I have so much to share but the words sometimes don’t seem pretty enough to hit the publish button. Thank you for allowing me to see that I am not the only one who has doubts when it comes to their assignment. God Bless each of you.

  8. Anna,

    How encouraging it is to know I’m not alone in my Journey to Rest. In my weariness. In being overwhelmed! Your words brought such comfort to my heart. Thank you! ♥

  9. Anna- this is your hair stylist;) I love this. I think some of the most impact flu blogs to read are those written with humility, honesty and allow God to shine through in out weakness! This spoke to me in many ways. Especially because I came out of a strong season of harvest. Entering into another dry time is due to stress, and filled calendar squares as you mentioned. Love the verse you shared! Dead on! Speaks to so many of us, especially us women:) keep in posting!

  10. Yes, the dry places can be scary, especially when we gain a break from the everyday in a place of rest and even that is not enough of and by itself. It is onlyJesus who brings refreshment in the deep places we barely recognise. I am also encouraged thatJesus withdrew into desolate places to meet with God and he understands our dryness

  11. My son, James, just lost his ministry job. I know he feels shaken and wonders how he will move through the dry places. God has a place for him and his family. Please join me in prayer as they find God’s place.

  12. Oh, Anna…How well I relate. I too have a blog that has lately been so difficult to write because I’ve been all “dried-up.” God reminded me Saturday that when I’m feeling overwhelmed His grace can overwhelm me…It seems everywhere I turn in the blog world there has been a sense that so many of us are feeling it. Thank you for reminding me I’m not alone. This was a blessing to me. And the verse? Oh the sweetness of God’s word. I will be memorizing this one…

  13. My something new is actually a blog: http://www.everydayfaithandfitness.com It’s been a couple years in the making, but just in the last couple months, He’s placed it on my heart to be obedient (even though I don’t really know what I’m doing!)

    I just wanted a way to share thoughts on how my passion for fitness connects with my love for Jesus. My hope is that it will serve to be informational, encouraging, and somewhat entertaining.

    I’ve just begun this blogging journey – and I’m frankly aware of how many bloggers are weary, stepping back, simplifying. I’m trying to keep my eyes and heart open, here from the beginning, in an attempt to lessen the seemingly inevitable burnout you speak of.

    Praying you find a downpour of drenching refreshment 🙂

  14. Lean into God Anna. He can accomplish more in one second of His Rest than in years of our toil. I am becoming more intimate with this truth.

  15. Oh yes! With a job that has all of a sudden (?) been dumped on its side and nothing tangible to hold onto, the automatic-yet fleeting- feeling of fear has been replaced by calm and peace. I hear God continually saying….Be still…Trust Me (not them)…I know what I am doing…. So, every day I trust that He truly is working all things together for the good of this one who loves Him….He is working it out. So every day I walk in, do my job-prayerfully well- believing that something is going to change, all for the good. My God loves me, this I know.

  16. I wouldn’t say I’m in a dry place; it’s more like a Kansas highway–straight and the same, mile after mile! But your words give me renewed hope: “God is at work creating. In us and for us, He is working.” I just need to persevere and keep on the road. Kansas WILL come to end! Thank you, Anna!

  17. I just love this community that I see here among women. This empty, anxious space in life is one that so many of us know- myself included. There is such comfort when someone says “Me too.” Thanks for doing that here, Anna. And for reminding me “Even then… He is at work creating.”

  18. You have written what so many of us who call ourselves authors/writers/bloggers experience. The no-words syndrome. I went through it a couple of years ago. One day I told the Lord that I had no words to write, even though He had called me to write. Clear as a bell, into my heart, He said, “You may not have words, but I do.” Out of that time came a blog series entitled ‘When Words Won’t Come’. It focused on Scripture, and how that particular Scripture spoke into my heart. Out of that blog series came a devotion book, by the same name, that was published in 2013. The blinking cursor just might be God’s way of saying to all of us, “I’ve got it.”

  19. I just love this Anna! Real life is full of blinking cursors…so true and such a powerful visual. Thank you for this right now as they blink-blink-blink at me!! But He is paving a beautiful pathway and maybe some of those blinks are His little winks. I’m counting it all as grace. Blessings!

  20. I love when God blows you away in a moment of weakness, dullness, and blinking cursors. In an intimate way that only He can, he makes sense of the innards of the heart so you can share what you did here 🙂

    Our oldest is about to start pre-K at big kid school in a couple of weeks. (We are in Georgia and start back early). God is working in me, training, teaching me new degrees of discipline as our household schedule will change. My husband, a school teacher, is also starting a new position. We will all be up and out far earlier than we are used to. I’ll have the daycare run, the school run, myself to work, then it all over again after 8 hours of work. It will be fine, but the thought of it makes me exhausted and anxious. But God will bring about new from it! I am faithful. I have to be because if not, I’m just neurotic. And that’s just annoying.

  21. Anna,

    Your post describes my hubby and I perfectly. As if my year wasn’t tough enough dealing with my aging father-moving to assisted living, medication issues, etc. We got some iffy news in June. All this while I’m working a job I don’t like and dread going to daily. We are both in a dried up state of mind.

    God works in mysterious ways. In my daily Bible reading (read through Bible 1 year) I came to Isaiah 43:19. It spoke volumes to me. While we both feel like we are in a wilderness of sorts–God is working to create new pathways and do
    something new and exciting. We just have to sit still, wait on His perfect timing!!

    For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
    I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
    – Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)

    Blessings 🙂

  22. Thank you Anna for reminding that He will create the new works, the new pathways and the rivers flowing; and that I need to stop trying so hard to create my own flowing rivers and let Him

  23. Ladies of prayer, what an encouragement! This is the third time I am coming across the encouraging verse from Isaiah.I am in that wasteland where I wake up with an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach . I have had a very difficult teaching term and I felt I was going to quit but couldnt because of financial constraints.my husband is without a job and I have no idea how we are vgoinv to meet our financial obligations on my salary alone.and I am not talki g luxuries! Yet inspite of this empty feeling I know that the Lord will come at the appropriate time.He does not lie when He says He will supply our needs according to His riches in glory (not according to how much we have in the bank.) May God increase our faith.

  24. Hi Anna:
    How our Father blessed and used you through this writing! Thank you for speaking the sentiments of my heart as God takes me through a series of transitions in all areas of my life. I have been broken on many levels (personally and professionally) and all I can say is BUT GOD and I am forever grateful for HIS faithfulness. Blessings and peace to you. -Monica

  25. Hi Anna, Utterly spent is exactly how I felt just a while ago. God reminded me of His faithfulness (Isaiah 43:19) through you. I am ashamed to have been downhearted. Thank you Anna. Nithila

  26. I too have been reminded of this verse more than once this month. I’ve been encouraged simply by reading everyone’s response! I’m waiting on His new for a f/t job…it has been tiring but l have hope!