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Are you a “fatherless” daughter?
Dear Sister, Welcome! I invite you to come in and stay awhile. During our time together, I want to introduce you to my Father. He gave me life, and, although I can’t see Him, I see evidence of Him; He walks alongside me every moment of every day. I didn’t grow up knowing Him, though I caught glimpses of Him from time to time. Helpful things to know about me as we begin this journey: My mother was the “other” woman, and my biological father completely abandoned me when I was four-years-old. I don’t remember ever seeing him, but a few photographs exist to prove he visited me a time…
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Plan for Your Future
There are many verses in the Bible that mention planning, and it appears that planning is a good principle to live by. There are coaches and gurus that teach multiple methods of how to plan our time to use it most efficiently, allowing us to do more of the things that we enjoy doing. Most of us have a plan – of sorts – even if we don’t use a planner. Some of us use a planner, which may be paper or digital or a combination of both, and plan to the minute what we hope to accomplish. We make “to do” lists painstakingly written out or hastily scribbled on…
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He Knows Our Anxious Thoughts
Do you suffer from anxiety? This emotion, this feeling, appears to manifest itself in multiple ways, according to Merriam-Webster: 1 a (1): apprehensive uneasiness or nervousness usually over an impending or anticipated ill: a state of being anxious; (2) medical: an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physical signs (such as tension, sweating, and increased pulse rate), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it; 1 b: mentally distressing concern or interest; 1 c: a strong desire sometimes mixed with doubt, fear, or uneasiness Wow. Anxiety goes beyond a feeling and affects our bodies…
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Being Where You’re Meant to Be
Have you ever felt like you needed to be two places (or more) at once? I certainly have! This week has been difficult for me trying to fulfill my roles as a mother and a wife. Our fifteen-year-old daughter has been sick for over a week. We saw three doctors to try to find out what is ailing her; Covid-19, flu A and B, and strep were all ruled out after only a few days. Then, one of the doctors ordered a viral infection panel that returned negative results for fifteen different viruses. She’s still not feeling well and running a fever. Hopefully, the antibiotic she received will knock out whatever it…
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Shackles & Freedom
Have you struggled in your relationships with your father figure(s)? Do you live in shame about choices you’ve made in the past? Do you feel hopeless? Do you sometimes feel adrift? I’ve struggled with my father figures. I’ve felt shame and regret about choices I made (to be honest, I still do sometimes). I’ve felt hopeless. I’ve felt adrift. But all that changed in 2004. I learned that the only Father I need is Father God. That I don’t have to live shackled by my bad choices. That I have been set free, yet I am anchored in love. Most importantly, I know that I am never alone; there is…
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Happy New Year!
Out with the Old Good-bye, 2020. I’m sorry to say, there are many who won’t miss you. You brought a lot of sickness, death, discontent, destruction, disappointment, loneliness, anxiety and unrest upon us – individually, nationally and globally. Oh, I’m sure you didn’t mean to, but those are the facts. You were a “dumpster fire” of a year. So much went wrong… and that’s what many of us have chosen to focus on… My dear sister, as you leave behind 2020, I invite you to change your perspective. Take off the glasses that cause you to dwell on everything that went wrong. Instead, deliberately choose a positive perspective. Focus on…
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Advent 2020: Week 4-Choose Love
Christmas Day signals the end of Advent season in a culmination of love. When God revealed how much He really loved us all by sending His only Son to a virgin mother and her betrothed. It was, and is, and always will be, the greatest Gift ever given. The ways in which we experience love are as vast as the differences in light and dark, hot and cold… familial love, romantic love, friendship… Sometimes love leaves us feeling fulfilled and joyful; sometimes it leaves us feeling empty and forlorn. How can a single word conjure up such different emotions? We each have a unique perspective and a best way to…
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Advent 2020: Week 3-Choose Joy
The third week of the Advent season focuses on joy – spiritual joy. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires,” but I disagree with this definition on a spiritual level. Joy isn’t something we can experience just because things are going well for us. We can experience joy even in the midst of heartbreak, betrayal, and a myriad of other emotions. The difference between joy as defined here and spiritual joy is a choice. Even when things are not going according to plan or as a result of “well-being, success, or good fortune,” we can choose joy. Choosing…
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Advent 2020: Week 2-Choose Peace
Does peace seem elusive this Advent season? Here we are in the season of celebration of Jesus’s birth, and things seem anything but peaceful. There is conflict in our world … division in our nations … unrest in our families … turmoil within ourselves. How do you find peace when everything in and around you seems chaotic? You don’t have to find peace because it isn’t lost. If you choose to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have His peace! Once again, we have to choose what we allow in our hearts and in our minds. Choose to pray and choose to receive God’s peace. Paul advises us, “Do not be…
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Advent 2020: Week 1-Choose Hope
Are you clinging to hope this Advent season? I know I am, and sometimes it feels like it’s slipping away. There are so many things at odds with feeling hope this year: A global pandemic that has resulted in so much loss – life, normalcy, jobs, economic stability, travel, plans, celebrations, smiles (hidden behind masks)… In America, where I live, divisions over racism, ideologies, and politics… Increased isolation leading to rises in anxiety, depression, fear, loneliness, child abuse, domestic abuse, and substance abuse… Not to mention a thousand other things in each of our personal lives. All these things make it hard to know how we will ever bounce back.…
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Gratitude, Thankfulness and Thanksgiving
Does Thanksgiving make you nostalgic? I think about past years spent with my family of origin and those who have passed on from this life. I reminisce about how we spent that special time – playing games and squabbling over who should’ve won, eating too much of our favorite foods that are only prepared once a year, sitting together in the living room talking about our lives. Sometimes those memories bring a smile, but, more often than not, they bring tears of regret and sadness for what is no more. If you can relate to these feelings, I’d like to offer a different perspective that has helped me overcome these…
