I sat in shock, listening. Someone I considered to be a friend had been upset with me for months, and she had been talking about me with a couple of mutual friends. We had served together on a large ministry leadership team at our church for years. Both of us had volunteered countless hours pouring our hearts and our lives into the women of our ...
“What’s wrong with me?” I asked myself in a frustrated and condemning tone. I had forgotten an appointment and missed an important call that morning, so that same question had popped into my head more than once. But it wasn't just a question, it was an assumption, a label of defect I slapped on myself every time I asked it — not just that day ...
I caught myself whispering an unrealistic secret to my heart, "Maybe this will be the year everything goes as planned, and we'll have the perfect Christmas." Perfect is what I'd always wanted for Christmas, but in all my years of living, I've never been able to pull it off. Perfect looks like peace on earth and in my home for twenty-four hours. ...
Standing in my boyfriend's kitchen, I looked to see what time it was. Panic rushed over me when I realized I had five minutes to get home for curfew, and two many miles between his house and mine to make it. Mom had said if I missed curfew again, she would ground me for a month. I ran to my car and raced the clock to get home. Hands gripping the ...
I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, squinting from the lights above while also trying to open my eyelids so I could put mascara on my lashes. My mouth opened, too, almost instinctively. And I wondered why opening my mouth helped open my eyes. It didn’t make sense, and neither did the way I was feeling. I had been struggling with self-doubt and ...
Driving under a canopy of oak trees, I watched shadows dance with sunshine in the street. Their rhythm was slow and easy, calm and peaceful. I felt the opposite. My pace had been hurried; my thoughts filled with angst and worry. Tasks outnumbered time, yet here I was avoiding being alone with myself at the library. I had planned to be working ...
It’s usually very subtle. I’ll be thinking about something I want to do or something I sense God calling me to, and all of the sudden this nauseating sense of insecurity will come over me. Out of the blue, uncertainty will sneak up on me and whisper: You can’t do that. You’re not good enough or competent enough. And many times I’ve gone along ...
I watched his shoulders as he walked up the mountain through the fog, hoping his posture would tell me how he was feeling. Raindrops trickled down his suit coat, and I thought to myself, I will never forget watching my son climb this muddy mountain to wait for his bride. Josh and Brandi had spent weeks looking for the perfect setting for an ...
For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. (Zephaniah 3:17 NLT) Startled by the silence, I sat up in bed so I could see the neon red lights that told me it was three in the morning, time to feed ...
It was a source she’d come to depend on. A place she went to get her needs met, but it was never enough. Every day she came back for more. Filling her jar with water, the woman looked up and heard the man asking her for a drink. Then He offered her something in return: living water. Unlike the water she came to get that day, He said this water ...
