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Category: Ministry and Serving

Am I Holding Out Words of Hope and Life?

April 26, 2022
| 8 Comments
| Categories: Coaching Your Friends, Coaching Your Kids, Coaching Your Spouse, Coaching Yourself, Encouragement, Grace, Hope, Ministry and Serving, Uncategorized

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
    and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

proverbs 18:21

I remember one of the most hopeless seasons in my life. I felt despair at the thought of living through another day of uncertainty and sadness. I couldn’t imagine trying to put on a happy face free from mascara stains in order to homeschool my kids.

I’m so thankful for the people who took my hand and sat with me in my hopeless feelings, listened to my frustration and prayed…

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For All Who Struggle to DO Hospitality

August 16, 2019
| 3 Comments
| Categories: Coaching Yourself, Fear, Ministry and Serving, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Growth

It usually happens during a week that I feel the most vulnerable and overwhelmed. My husband says something like, “I think we should have an open house after church on Sunday.”

I’ll instantly think of all that will need to be done to make that happen. I admit I’ll also get the vulnerable feeling in the pit of my stomach. After a year of rehabbing our home, my kitchen cabinets still don’t have doors and my bathroom is still missing drywall. I imagine what others might say about that on…

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When You’re Weary of the World’s Lack of Kindness

August 19, 2017
| 14 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Grace, Ministry and Serving, Spiritual Growth

SMH

Are you familiar with this acronym for “Shaking My Head”?  “SMH” is an Internet abbreviation trend used for shaking your head to express disappointment.

I don’t often shake my head at people I’m disappointed in. Well…wait…maybe I do that to my kids when they disobey me! I’ve probably used the acronym for it a few times while texting or on social media. Perhaps more often than these, I might have an internal posture of “SMH”.

This past week I was made aware that I had that internal “SMH” posture going.

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The Turquoise Table book Winners!

July 31, 2017
| 1 Comment
| Categories: Encouragement, Ministry and Serving

This past week, I held a random drawing for two newsletter subscribers to win a copy of The Turquoise Table by Kristin Schell.

Congratulations to Madeleine and Kathy!

I must admit, I don’t own a turquoise table!  I’m also in the midst of moving and rehabbing and I’m a mess!  I do have a bit of turquoise on my front porch so I’m claiming that as my space to remind me to welcome people into my life.

I’m also trying to think of my blog as my turquoise table. Much of want I…

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Announcement: A Giveaway And A Request For Help!!

July 22, 2017
| No Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Ministry and Serving

“Being present and listening is the foundation to hospitality.” -Kristin Schell

“Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.” -Henri Nouwen

“Are you consumed with a busy life but unsure how to slow down? Do you desire connection within your community and think, “Absolutely, but I don’t have time for that” or “I can’t create that”? What if there was another way through it all, a…

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If You Have a Dream

October 20, 2016
| 14 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Ministry and Serving, Spiritual Gifts

DSCN0036

I’m revisiting my dream of writing and reminding myself of the truths in this old post from last year…

Do you have a dream?

God has made you and molded you in your life circumstances for certain gifts, longings, desires and passions. Often times, these stir in our hearts and minds for years and months before we take real steps toward living them out.

I’ve had a longing to write and create pictures since I was a little girl.  I remember at about age four or five I would trace the pictures…

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A Journey with The Good Shepherd Pt. 2

June 16, 2015
| 16 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Jesus, Ministry and Serving

shepherd 2

Last week I wrote about journeying with The Good Shepherd and how all that we really need  is what we already carry around with us…Jesus.  I asked the question, “Am I really free to dare to pursue adventures with Christ…dangers and all?”

And of course the answer is yes.  I…we…are really free to dare to pursue Christ…and adventures with Him…dangers and all.

Let that sink in.  What would that look like?   “Do you have a God-given passion or desire on your heart that you have set aside over and…

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The Kind of Death I Long For

March 14, 2015
| 49 Comments
| Categories: Encouragement, Ministry and Serving, Spiritual Growth

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Not too far from my house there is a patch of woods that runs along a bluff overlooking the Missouri River.  It’s in a place that is quite special to me.  To get there you have to enter a cemetery.  I grew up not far from this cemetery, so going there is like revisiting my childhood.  My siblings and I used to ride our bikes through it as kids.  Once in a while, intrigued by the antiquity of them,  we would stop to look at the graves.

Once inside…

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The Jesus Ripple Effect

November 17, 2014
| 23 Comments
| Categories: Jesus, Ministry and Serving, Spiritual Growth

Water Ripples and Greenery

I want beauty in my life.

I want it to be in the form of refreshment for myself and others.

I want to see Jesus more in my life.

I want the Jesus ripple effect.

I see it play out in chapter seven of the second book of Corinthians. This beauty and refreshment released in the lives who make up the body of Christ. It happened when they repented and turned toward God and others in love.

Chapter six tells us God’s word to us about himself:

“I will make my dwelling among…

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Love Without Hesitation

September 13, 2014
| 19 Comments
| Categories: Ministry and Serving

 

Each day of Vacation Bible School this summer the children tossed spare change and dollar bills into the wicker basket.  Little hearts and hands moved to do something in response to what they were learning and now know.  That 200 women are forced into slavery a day in India.

And that isn’t even the full story.

When you can’t tell young people the atrocities carried out on other human beings, you know you’re dealing with evil.

We called it slavery, modern day slavery.  But it it so much more than that.  Two hundred women are…

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