Oh, this is such an amazing gift for you! Light of the World: 21-Day Advent Devotional is a resource compiled by Radical Radiance that will lead you to know, experience, and share Jesus, the Light of the world, this Christmas season. I contributed as an author to this project and I'm delighted to share it with you. (My note of encouragement is in Week 3, Day 1!) When you request this free devotional, you'll receive a 59-page PDF workbook (complete with planning pages, activity pages, and 21 days of devotionals), an audiobook Continue Reading
If God Sent You a Note
God’s Word consistently tells you how much He cares about you. That He is with you. I think if He sent you a note today, it would look like this … Good morning, my precious daughter. It’s a new day today. I created it for you! I painted the sunrise and lifted it over the horizon to remind you that there are good things waiting for you, and I will be with you every single moment. I want to give you everything you need to experience joy and hope and peace. Let’s experience today together, OK? When good things happen to you, I will Continue Reading
Time to Let Them Go
During the last few weeks, memories from two specific seasons have rented rooms in my brain. It’s been one year since my pancreas got really angry and I spent a few days in the hospital trying to figure out what ticked it off. This memory has decorated its rented room with posters that say, “If only I had …” When I walk through that room, I get frustrated with myself. The other rented room in my brain looks different. The room is smaller, and handwritten notes are placed around it. The renter is the memory bank of the 7-year season Continue Reading
Make Room for the Good
Along with replacing the tank tops in our closet with sweatshirts and flannels, the Fall season invites us to cleanse, purge, start again, and “finish the year strong!” (I’m a little over the whole “finish the year strong” thing. I’m just focusing on finishing today strong. Because my “strong” needs a nap.) A change of season does seem to signal a time to reflect and consider what the next few months could look like though. A time to start again. And that can be healthy. But it’s easy to mess this up. How? We believe that Continue Reading
What Farmers Teach Us
I visited one of my favorite places last weekend. Home. Climax, Minnesota. Spending a few hours with classmates from the Class of ’75 was a highlight of the summer. And oh, my. Was it fun. The stories we shared and memories we laughed about reminded me of the best of community: Kindness. Grace. Friendship. The looking out for and caring for neighbors and friends. You may not have grown up in a small town, but you are part of a community. There are people who care about you. If no one comes to mind, please, from the bottom of my Continue Reading
I’m ready. Let’s go.
The Minnesota Vikings have wrapped up their pre-season games and I am hopeful. This could be our year, right? Right! I. Love. Football. Please note: Even if you'd rather have a root canal than watch grown men shove each other down onto green turf, please stick with me here. Think about how they play the game. In every single moment of the game, they are moving and blocking and passing and running...intentionally. During every play, each player commits to follow the coach’s plan. Consider the alternatives: As the punter kicks Continue Reading
Sheep Have it Made
Did you have a pet when you were younger? Perhaps a dog or a cat or a horse? I had a pig. His name was George. My sister, Julie, also had a pet pig. It was also named George. (Our dad’s name was George. I know. I don’t understand it either.) My goodness, how we worked at taking care of those pigs. One lesson I learned very quickly in my pet pig season was that it was very hard to keep it clean. When we prepared to show them in 4-H competitions, I would brush and scrub and sprinkle baby powder on mine. Julie would clean hers real good Continue Reading
Soul-Soothing Plan for the Summer
It’s summer, and that means the heat index could be maxed out so everything is wilting, or it could be raining cats and dogs with thunder and lightning thrown into the mix. (I wonder who came up with the phrase raining cats and dogs. What does it even mean? OK. Back to our regularly scheduled program.) Just for a moment, let’s imagine that it’s a perfect, beautiful summer day. There’s no humidity so your hair isn’t frizzing or going limp. The sun is warm, but the cool breeze invites you to tilt your head back and close your Continue Reading
Your Whatever Matters
Whatever. It’s a word that sometimes comes from our mouth when we are … Tired of the conversation. Reluctant to discuss the conflict. Walking away. Oh my. I can see me in some of those whatever moments! Whatever usually comes out as a disappointed whisper when I’m walking away from the person who just doesn’t understand that what I’m saying is right and he is most definitely not right and I’m too tired to argue and the conversation just doesn’t seem worth the effort. My back is turned, and my hand is waving away the moment. Continue Reading
I Got This
This note of encouragement comes from something I wrote several years ago. Its message has been bouncing around in my head lately, and I knew it was something I wanted and needed to share with you. We were moving my friend when this was written. You know what that means … lots of ugh’s. Right? May your heart be encouraged! **** I’ve got this. If my nephew Scottie said it once, he said it a hundred times. I’ve got this. They were the best words of the day. No, of the week. Perhaps the month. Moving from one home to another Continue Reading
What We Can Do
There is something I can do. The shootings. Grieving families. Unimaginable tragedy. Uvalde, TX. Buffalo, NY. Laguna Woods, CA. The list continues. How can this happen? The answers just don’t come. It would be easy to turn off our TVs, shut out the news, and hope it doesn’t happen again in our community. And for some, it’s best to step away from the horror and the tragedy. We each have our own health boundaries. But, for most of us, we can’t ignore the reality. We shouldn’t. We can do something. And we must. We Continue Reading
Same God, New Season
These truths are swirling through my brain today … God is a God of love. He hangs the stars. Instructs the sun to rise. Always keeps His promises. God is faithful. When I allow these reminders to frame my day, life feels better. Hope returns. Worries can’t compete and they move out. Do you know what I mean? Perhaps your feelings about life and this new spring/summer season are similar to mine? My heart and my muscles and my brain are ready for a pause. They need time to breathe. Rest. They are starved for Continue Reading
You Are Famous
The movie credits splash the names of the stars across the screen. We know who they are; they are the people who producers depend on to get us into the theaters. The biggies. But you know, I’m more intrigued by those whose names show up in smaller fonts. The actors whose parents lean forward in their red cushion theater seats and squint their eyes to watch for their son’s or daughter’s name roll up at the very bottom of the list, long after everyone else has left the theater. Sally Jones…Townsperson #1 Ruth Peterson…Bystander #2 Mary Continue Reading
Have You Ever Had One of Those Days?
It was a bad day. I mean, a really bad day. My friend, David…the one in the Bible who wrote the Psalms…was having a day that makes me feel anxious just reading about it. Here’s how he described it in his 69th Psalm: …the waters have come up to my neck… …I sink in the miry depths where there is no foothold… …the floods engulf me… …I am worn out calling for help… …My eyes fail… And then. The biggie. …Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head. You’ve got to be kidding me! I break out in a sweat and Continue Reading
Speak Truth to Yourself
Ok. Let's review. (She says to herself first.) Here are phrases that do not show up in The Good Book; words that are never said by God, The Great Promise Keeper... You've got a big load of stuff to do today. Good luck with that. Sure wish today was over. It just keeps getting worse. You always mess up. Can't you just get your act together? You've been struggling with that situation for years. It's not going to change. It's never going to end, you know. Bad stuff happens. Never. Said. God does not walk around wringing his Continue Reading
Shove Discouragement Back in its Box
Hey, hi. There’s encouragement here for YOU today. Scoot your chair up. Slip on your reading glasses. Mute the TV. I don’t want you to miss this. Discouragement can show up at the most inopportune times, can’t it? Not that there’s a good time, but has this happened to you? Life seems to be humming along, no crisis in sight, and then like a Jack-in-the-box, a frustration, lie, or sad memory jumps out in front of you. It stares right at you with its scary, dark red smile, bobbing and weaving with its arms stretched out, inviting you to Continue Reading
Living My Encore
Grab a chair and slide it in close. Put a soft pillow on your lap to rest your arms on. Lean in. Imagine that I’m looking into your beautiful eyes as I whisper … God is good. He’s got good things planned for you. On February 21, 2018, I wrote myself a message on page 1,179 of my Bible: I am not too old. It’s written next to these words from Isaiah’s 43rd chapter: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and Continue Reading
God is Able
I wonder what God’s voice sounds like. It must be a blend of strength, gentleness, immense power, vibrant spirit, hearty laughter, and sweet kindness. I’ve never heard it audibly, but the Holy Spirit has whispered into my heart at times. Sometimes it’s a few words of encouragement. Other times, He’ll remind me to get my act together. He’s like that you know. Tender and direct. This morning as I settled into my Bible study time, the Holy Spirit nudged me with this reminder: God is able. How timely and encouraging. I’ve been working on Continue Reading
A Netflix Drama from Long Ago
This story has all the components of a made-for-TV movie. Or a binge-worthy show on Netflix. Taking place centuries ago, the story highlights how God works in us and for us. How He meets us. It is not without drama, consequences, tension, forgiveness, mercy, and love. The principal male role is a patriarch of the Christian faith. A man of obedience and strength who looked beyond his own capabilities and relied on God’s power. And he was a man who made mistakes. His wife is the leading female in the credits. Childless and barren, Continue Reading
Dental Drama and Gratitude
What am I thankful for today? Dentists and oral surgeons who wake up in the morning excited to poke around in people’s mouths. It’s been 40+ years since I had a disastrous dental procedure that went horribly wrong and completely changed the way I would view future dentist visits. They were no longer an opportunity to sit back with my feet up and get a minty-fresh cleaning and a new tube of toothpaste. The check-ups became a too-long moment of high anxiety that included instruments of torture and the absolute assuredness that the local Continue Reading
Get Out There and Dance!
This little note of encouragement has had its fair share of fits and starts this week. The words I was stringing together just couldn’t get settled on that white sheet of paper on my computer screen. And my cursor blinked, frozen in one place, more often than it moved across the page. So, I stopped working so hard at it. What do I really want to say this week? The answer came so quickly that I knew my message needed to shift. So I shifted! Perhaps this shift is a result of having a blast at my nephew’s wedding this weekend. Continue Reading
Find the Fun Now!
Several ideas for this little note zipped around in my brain, but none of them were really landing. They felt like moths who would fly right up to the bright bulb but then dash away, looking perhaps for a brighter bulb? I kept going back to my post from a year ago: Find the Fun! That message still just feels so right for this week in July, and when I circle it up to the light bulb, it just keeps circling! And doesn’t the image of the tap dancing ladies make you smile! So, enjoy this favorite from the past. New post next time! Stay Continue Reading
The Hokey Pokey and Tap Dancing
Back in the day, when I was younger, my definition of “a cool girl” included her ability to dance. Oh my. I’d watch those cool girls at the dances in our school gym, and I marveled – yes, marveled – at their ability to make dancing look so effortless. And fun. And so cool. I wanted to be cool too, so I practiced dancing at home in front of my bedroom dresser mirror before heading up to the school dance. (Please, someone tell me that you did this too.) Good grief. That was just plain … good grief. My dancing skills were better Continue Reading
Getting My Ducks in a Row … Or Not
Good grief. If I had a milk chocolate-covered caramel for every time I’ve tried to get my act together … well, I’d be enjoying a lavish consumption of chocolate. And my stomach would be upset. And my act would not be together. We work hard at it though, right? Trying to find some level of order and calm in the chaos and overwhelm by fixing, directing, and controlling. Intensely trying to set the perfect habits that will change our lives. Setting up work and home and people systems so everything and everyone functions like clockwork. Continue Reading
Let Something Go
Along with replacing the tank tops in our closet with sweatshirts and flannels, the Fall season invites us to cleanse, purge, start again, and “finish the year strong!” (I’m a little over the whole “finish the year strong” thing. I’m just focusing on finishing today strong. Because my “strong” needs a nap.) A change of season does seem to signal a time to reflect and consider what the next few months could look like though. A time to start again. And that can be healthy. But it’s easy to mess this up. How? We believe that Continue Reading
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