Posted on

Who am I to think I have a ministry?

Four years ago, when my children were entering high school, I sought the Lord about what I was going to do when they were out of my nest.  One of the things He directed me to do was to attend Proverbs 31 Ministries “She Speaks” conference.  At that conference, I learned the steps I needed to take to have a speaking ministry.  For the past six years, I have spoken and taught at my church, but I felt like God was calling me to move outside the walls of my church and speak in front of more groups of women.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

I’m confessing my sin today…for all the world to hear

I’m making a list today and it is absolutely no fun.  In fact, I have been dreading it all week.  I’m preparing for a prayer ministry appointment (also called inner healing) and I’m making a list of sins to confess out loud.  Yep.  Sins. To. Confess.  MY sins to confess. Doesn’t that sound about as much fun a getting a double root canal with no novocaine?  You can tell that I am chomping at the bit to get started.

spider-web-1729194__480

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

One day we will no longer need courage

For the last few years, I have chosen a word that I want to define my new year.  There are books and websites that describe the process of choosing your word, but in the interest of time, I just pray and ask God what my word will be.  Last year it was “Belief,” and looking back I sure was challenged and I grew in the area of belief.  This year my word is “COURAGE.”

Courage.  Most people think that the word “courage” means the absence of fear.  But that is an incorrect assumption.  Courage means “the ability to do something that frightens you.”  I was struck by the phrase “the ability”  – to be able to do something that frightens you.

Courage

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

I love Jesus even if I won’t share your Facebook post

I was taking an early morning hike through the mountains at the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove.  It was a cool summer morning and I should have been peaceful and relaxed, but instead, I was upset.  And it wasn’t at my husband back in Wilmington, or my children, or my mother.  I was upset because of Facebook.  Rather, what I saw on Facebook.  It wasn’t one of the many flaming political post that upset me, or even something that went against my beliefs. It was posts by Christians about Jesus.  If you are on Facebook, and you have a few Christian friends, you have seen posts like this repeatedly:

i-love-jesus (more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

Have you ever wanted to be a hermit?

I’m sitting by a mountain stream in a rocking chair, feet propped up and enjoying the warmth of the setting sun.  I keep inching my chair closer and closer to the water.  The sound of water washes over my soul like a cold washcloth on a feverish forehead.  My soul longs for peace and quiet and solitude and no people to be found for miles and miles to see.

water2_small

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

Jesus gives us beauty for ashes – a hopeful look at 2017

2016.  How can we describe this past year?  From what I’ve seen on Facebook, most people were happy to say goodbye to 2016.  It was a year rife with challenges and changes.  No one will miss the bitter and hateful election season and the internal struggle of how to vote.  For my home state, North Carolina, we suffered the devastating Hurricane Matthew and race riots in Charlotte.  Even in my church, we faced challenges and changes.

You probably faced some difficult challenges and changes in 2016 as well, perhaps in your job, your family, your finances, or your health.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

Don’t let Christmas letters make you feel like a failure

It’s that time of year when your mailbox is full of Christmas cards and Christmas letters.  I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas letters. When we became parents I wrote them to keep friends and family updated on how Gregory and Hannah were growing and developing.  I share the comings and goings of our family and I try to keep it light, cheery, and funny.   I hope that my friends and family enjoy what I write to share with them.

Personally, I enjoy receiving Christmas letters and learning about the lives of my friends and family.  But some Christmas letters, straight up, make me feel like a big fat failure.

Christmas Letter (more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

We are in a lifelong battle with “not good enough”

Earlier this year something happened that rocked my world.  It caught me off guard and totally shook my confidence.  It made me confused, it challenged my identity, and it left me feeling insecure.  It made me furious and it also made me cry.  Buckets.  And, although I hate to admit it, at one point I was even despairing of my life.  With one click a tidal wave of emotional drama was unleashed in my life:

I was unFriended on Facebook.

not good enough

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

I’m coming out of the closet about my panic attacks

I walked slowly from the kitchen to my bedroom in the early morning light.  With every step my body became heavier and heavier and as soon as I stepped through my bedroom door, my petite body collapsed onto the carpet.  I could hear Brian getting ready for work in the nearby bathroom.  I weakly called out to him.  And then he called 911.  I was scared but I also remember being mortified by the thought of an ambulance racing to our home, wondering, “What will the neighbor’s think?”  That happened four summers ago.

panic attacks

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy
Posted on

Raising a child with a disability is hard, painful, and scary

For 20 years, my family has been on a journey that is different than most families.  My husband and I were young and in love, and the natural consequence of young love is children.  So at the age of 25, I gave birth to a precious baby boy.  That boy was very precocious and he amazed everyone with his giftedness.  No joke, he was reading before he was out of diapers, but he also had social and communication delays that concerned us.  When he was three years old, we contacted our school system and had him evaluated.  He was amazing and gifted, they told us, but they also told us that he had autism.

(more…)

Sharing is caring. If this post encouraged you, will you share it on Facebook so that it could bless your friends,too? Thanks for helping me to reach more struggling women with encouragement, hope, and grace.
signature copy