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Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food (1 Kings 17:4). My mom always said I was scornful. It wasn’t “have it your way at our house”; whatever she made for dinner is what we ate. I always despised discernible fat on meat – if I could see it, I wasn’t eating it. Growing up there was a cut of beef called salt beef that was popular for a while. It was flavorful but lined with fat. Then there was okra – it was slimy and I never enjoyed it. If it looked gross to me, I turned my face up, picked around it, and only ate what I found palatable. So I can’t imagine being fed by ravens like Elijah was. After Elijah announced to King Ahab that there would be a famine he was further instructed by God to...

Ten Things Your Church Can Do to be More Winsome of Unbelievers        Over the last several decades, our nation and the world have evolved into shocking levels of chaos.  There is so much hatred, division, persecution, injustice, starvation, devastation, hopelessness, and lack of love for each other.  Never has there been a time when the Body of Christ is needed more than in these days.  The hope we offer through Christ is the answer the world is looking for. But that means our churches have to be more strategic about how we reach those who are not yet believers.   Lose the judgmental attitude.  Somewhere along the way, we seem to have forgotten where we came from.  We were not born into the Kingdom of God, nor did we just w...

I wish I could tell you how I feel now. With the breeze on my neck through open window. Blackbird singing out toward sunset. Candle burning low. I have been hunkered down. My heart a bit reticent to communicate although I have been diligent about listening to it. For the first time in my life, I now work to do something contrary to my personality: giving myself space to do nothing, produce nothing. And yet things—from my heart and head—are still pulled up from tilled ground. The soil watered and the beds cleaned. I have no patience for weeds twisted and roots tangled. This life strains for sun and song and air. I just work more empty-handed now. Each day I want only Jesus to place in my hands the tools I need. I am less attracted to the striving that comes from forging my own tools, cleari...

What is the Enneagram?  The Cliffnotes version—it’s a personality typing system with 9 types that focuses on core motivations. It is uniquely designed for personal growth,  but as I talk to more people about the Enneagram and have helped them find their type, I’ve found a common reaction to the negative aspects of each type—embarrassment and shame. Each of the 9 types has healthy and unhealthy attributes, depending on whether that person is in a healthy or weaker state. It can be a shock to hear yourself described so accurately, especially when that accuracy has to do with things you might wish weren’t true about yourself—perfectionist, image focused, paranoid, security-oriented, resource hoarding, feels tragically flawed, gluttony, controlling, unrealistically idealistic.  ...

The doctors said that full recovery would likely take six to 12 months and from that point onward, I counted off the days with eagerness. When nothing seemed to change by the 6-month mark, I comforted myself by looking forward to the 12-month mark. The timing seemed symbolic to me – I would regain full health as we exited the trauma of 2020 and welcomed in a new year.  However, as I write this, it has been 1 year and 4 months with no guarantee that those weakened muscles will ever regain full strength. Not surprisingly, this is not a situation that naturally causes joy to spring forth in my heart.  In a year that was plagued with the peculiar challenges of the pandemic, a health issue was the last thing I needed in 2020. Each month, especially as I passed the 12-month mark and we...

Hello Readers, We have a treat for you! Enjoy this interview with Lee Ann Zanon author of the newly released devotional Honest Hope. When I sat with this book, I felt as though I was sitting down to coffee with a dear friend. In a year that has been filled with feelings of isolation, this was a welcome feeling, indeed! Zanon invites you into her own experiences, offers scripture that encourages the heart, and reminds the reader that hope is worth the risk. Covering topics like grief, chronic pain, relational hurt, and rising from despair, there is something for every woman in this book. I had the privilege of discussing the book with Zanon, and she is sharing some of her insight with us. Enjoy this brief behind-the-scenes glimpse at Honest Hope. Writing a book is a daunting ...

              Do you ever feel like no one ever gives you any thanks for what you do? Do you feel like you are juggling 18 different balls, and you are doing your very best to keep them afloat, fearing that if just one thing – just one- goes wrong, all the balls are going to come tumbling down around you? If you are a mom, then the answer is yes. If you are a mom AND lead in ministry in any capacity, the answer is double yes! First, thank you. Thank you to all of you for answering the call of God on your lives to minister to those around you — whether it be babies, sisters, single moms, special needs, or someone else. I know is not easy to minister. I know there are days when you just want to give up or throw in the tow...

Recently my eight-year-old daughter asked me if people can be happy without Jesus. I answered her in the moment, but I’ve been thinking about and attempting to refine my answer ever since. Yes, I believe the world is brimming with good things that can bring happiness to all people. Loving relationships, delectable food, satisfying careers, stunning sunsets…these are common graces from our loving creator and can bring both pleasure and happiness. However, happiness is dependent on external circumstances and can be unstable and fleeting. In a moment, life can change. A terminal diagnosis, a friend’s harmful behavior, a natural disaster…what then? What of our happiness? Where do our emotions flee? What will serve as a firm foundation so that we are not subject to the buffets of the world and ...

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 June 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 June Scripture Writing Guide! Join Our Telegram Group : Salvation & Prosperity  

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:10-12 NIV Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10b NIV Where may abundant joy be found?In this world are strife and discord,Yet angels sing a heavenly chord. Love one another declares the Lord.On His throne King Jesus is crowned,His perfect command a lovely sound. Through obedience peace abounds.Truth destroys bondage like a sword.Freedom and strength our great reward. My eye beholds the One adored.With joy complete on hallowed ground,In Jesus abundant joy is found. Linda L. Krusch...

Keep the good and leave the bad as we turn the page on COVID! I interviewed the Hands Free Mama, Rachel Macy Stafford, a New York Times bestselling author and cultivator of soul space. Drawing insights from her new book, “Live Love Now,” Rachel offers timely advice that will bless your family for years to come in this faith and parenting Chaos to Calm on-demand episode.  Rev. Noelle Kirchner, M.Div., believes we don’t have to live with full schedules and thin souls. A busy mom of three boys, she is a graduate of Northwestern University and Princeton Seminary and an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served in churches for over ten years. She has written for places like the TODAY Show Parenting Team, Huff Post Parents, Crosswalk, iBelieve, and ...

Over twenty years ago, I found myself curled in a ball in the middle of my cold bathroom floor, crying hysterically. I was convinced that no one could possibly understand the depths of my pain. When would this misery end? I was broken. I had no money, few friends, and no hope. How was I going to raise these children alone for 18 years? How could I make it financially? Would my circumstances ever change? How could I ever get over all the abuse from my past? There were a million questions, and I had no answers. That is my story – the story of a lonely single mom living on government assistance, running from God, and feeling like I could not push through. The next several years, I traveled a winding road of highs and lows, victories, and defeats. But I did push through. I made it th...