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(Image Credit: Canva) www.courtnayerichard.com In these turbulent times, it’s time for the body of Christ to shine brighter in our homes, jobs, communities, churches, and online circles like never before! The world is getting darker and darker, and the Bible forewarned us that in the last days, there would be difficult times. We’re seeing it. Would you agree? I see it. So, as Christians, in order to shine even brighter in this dark and difficult world, we’re going to need to live fruitful lives in our day. So how do we accomplish this in our daily lives and in this critical hour? The simple answer – action. Yep! Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:20, “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you identify people by their actions.” In Jesus’ own words, He tells us through John 15:8, “W...

Ministry Leaders Worn Out and Weary         I bumped into a friend a few weeks ago, and she asked how I was doing. My response was, “I’m tired.” We chatted for a while, and I began to think and pondered over how many times I had responded with that same answer over the previous months. How many times have I thought about my exhaustion over the years?  Often, I jokingly say that I haven’t slept in twenty years and hadn’t truly rested since I had kids. Although it is a joke, there is some truth to the weariness we can fall under as ministry leaders.        Ministry is different from anything else you will ever do. You cannot compare it to working a 9:00 to 5:00 job. Many of you still do that in addition to leading your ministry, bathing ...

But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too. Mark 11:25 NLT Hard and fast I held a grudgeBuried long and deep Other’s actions I would judgeAll my rights to keep Each wrong plainly recordedBuilt a mighty wall Behind which pain I hoardedShrouded in death’s pall Darkness loomed for many yearsMy wall blocked all light I might have drowned from my tearsDespair held me tight In this wall one day I foundA fair open door Forgive was etched all aroundFrom top jamb to floor At this door I lingered longPondering my choice Through it came a lovely songMade my heart rejoice I chose right then to walk throughLeave my grudge behind God refreshed my soul anewSweet peace I did find If my wall, my record stan...

Last month my family embarked on a 5-week, 8,000-mile road trip around the United States. Through flaming deserts, sticky swamplands, verdant valleys and hills, and endless miles of corn (so much corn) we drove. A newfound sense of awe and wonder for the beauty, diversity, and vastness of our country was sparked. However, no sight or city captivated my imagination quite like the seashells. Coming from Oregon, where a summer day at the beach involves jackets and blankets and a stalwart resolve to enjoy the frigid water pouring over my toes, the blazing sun and unflinchingly warm water of Gulf Shores, Alabama, was wonderful enough. But in addition to these marvels, this stretch of beach is home to miles of intact colorful shells. For two days I combed through the swath near our house, and a ...

Ten Things We Need to Know About Complaining        One of my dearest friends and I have known each other for more than twenty years. Years ago, we both lived in the same apartment complex and often shared meals to save money.  We had very little to call our own. As young single moms, we had furnished our government-issued apartments with previously-owned, heavily-used furniture, bedding, and dishes. Often, we were the thankful recipients of other’s throwaways. We stretched every dollar farther than imaginable. We worked long hours and often had more debt than dollars. We clipped coupons, worked multiple jobs, held garage sales, etc. – whatever was necessary to ensure we provided for our young families. There is something about my friend that st...

Who likes free gifts and prayers worth praying for the next generation of women? For yourself? Our wonderful contributor, Sarah Dohman, is creating a free printable for our readers once a month for all of 2017. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to put this beautiful artwork on your walls. Make sure to follow us, so that you won’t miss one. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. January’s Anchored Printables are prayers written for the woman who longs to be both gutsy and gentle. We live in a culture that can range from asking us to be silent to asking us to be nasty, but God calls us to more. We can live filled with a passion to stand against injustice and still be kind. We can live gently and still be gutsy.  This prayer was written by...

Photo Credit: Canva Do you ever feel like you just need to get away from the demands of work, home-life chores, ministry, or your family for a bit to connect with God? I mean, be honest. You may feel this urgency or strong desire to pull away from all of the busyness to simply spend some unhurried or uninterrupted time alone with your Heavenly Father. If so, I get it! I’m there now.  I am quite ready to pack up a bag and head out of town! Life is busy. Life is full. But life is GREAT! Yet, this sister-girl wants to have a getaway with God.  Maybe you’re there now or maybe you know this sounds like a great idea for you, too. That’s probably why you clicked onto this post. If that’s the case, let’s talk about how to Plan Your Getaway with God.  Fo...

In honor of my brother Richard’s engagement to his beautiful fiancé Nicole, I’m sharing 34 Christian questions every couple should ask themselves before they get married. Before Marc and I started counseling, he wrote up with a list of 34 Christian premarital questions. You read that right. He w-r-o-t-e these questions because he is that brilliant. Mostly because we had a lot of questions. The questions we were finding in most premarital counseling books, seminars, and such weren’t what he was looking for. Marc came up with these questions after studying the writings of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760). What I love most about them is how they continually point back to Scripture, and revisiting these questions is making me fall in love with Marc all over again. ...

Ten Ways to Embrace the Benefits of Your Singleness          The Apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 7:8, “So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows – it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am.”  Why did he say that, and why does it sometimes seem that it is harder to embrace singleness than it is to celebrate being married or in a relationship?! If we are not careful, we can treat singleness as some sort of death sentence or plague that has been forced upon us, rather than looking at it as a unique time of celebration. There is a season for everything under the sun. Ecclesiastes 3:1. Singleness is a season. It is a time to experience some real benefits that you can no longer experience once you are married.&...

Scripture writing plans are incredibly simple, yet incredibly effective for helping us read, interpret and absorb the Word of God. Rather than simply letting our eyes pass over a verse and perhaps miss its full meaning, writing Scripture down helps us absorb each word and really think through what the passage before us is saying. Each day in September you’ll have the opportunity to write down a verse. We suggest using a journal where you can add any additional mediations or prayers that the verse brings to mind. Click here to download the September Scripture Writing Guide! Join Our Telegram Group : Salvation & Prosperity  

They fill up three journals so far, the poems I started writing in 2019. For one year I wrote three poems a day, in the early morning dark. Writing was the second thing I did upon waking. Right after tiptoeing through the quiet house—opening up windows to let in the morning air. The poems were prayers. Conversations between God and my heart. I was just the scribe. The trick was to be quiet enough to not fully wake. I trusted that my heart was more awake than my mind, right after I woke. And I wanted to stay in that state. I didn’t want my mind—any ideas—to get in the way of what my heart was feeling. Rather than employing rationale, intellect, reason, to discern the stories of the heart, I wanted to simply be present. I wanted to show up. I wanted to be in the room. The practice became an ...

The Olympics are over, and we’re all adjusting to regular life again. As I watched the bronze match for men’s tennis, one player wanted it more than the other. The favorite for the gold was in this match; he’d been defeated and now winning this match was his only chance at medaling at the Olympics, an honor that held so much weight.  In some sports you play for the bronze – soccer, tennis, table tennis, basketball while in others it’s automatically based on how you finished. The bronze match is, in essence, a tiebreaker with so much on the line. Nothing was going this tennis player’s way; he was being outplayed and outserved. In frustration, he threw his racket into the empty stands, and later, as the score progressively signaled his demise, he slam...