Faith Archives - Page 2 of 3

Bible Journaling: Prayerfully Practicing the Pause

Do you ever find your mind wandering when you read? How many of you have picked up a book (think light fiction, nothing requiring a ton of brain power), read three pages, and then realized you have no idea what you just read? I do this all the time, and that’s when I’m trying to read for fun! Sometimes I just have too much on my mind to focus on the words on the page.

When I’m reading fiction, it doesn’t really matter how much I retain from each page as long as I get the gist of the plot line. But what about reading for retention or reading that requires some intentionality? What about when I’m trying to devote myself to the Word of God, when I’m

A Season to Bloom, A Season to Grow

Spring flowers blooming is one of the most welcome sights after a long winter! There are so many phrases that we hear about blooming. “Late bloomer” was one from years ago if a child took a little more time to learn how to walk, talk, or read. Today you may be more likely to see a post on social media of two plants talking back and forth. Usually one looks forlorn about the other blooming first or differently and the first one replies by saying something like, “We’re different plants, Silly.” Another popular mantra you might have heard is, “Bloom where you're planted.” But what does it mean to bloom?

In our world one could argue that to bloom would

It’s So Hard, But It’s Worth It

It's so hard, but it's worth it.

Getting your late sleeper up on time, or interrupting your early riser's Sunday morning fun.

Asking your little ones to go get dressed to get out the door, when they really just want to stay in their pjs. "It's the weekend!"

It's so hard, but it’s worth it.

Taking your kids somewhere they don't necessarily want to be.

Expecting little ones to sit quietly for an hour

A Lifestyle of Doing Transformed into a Lifestyle of Being

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

It’s one of the first questions people ask us as little children. Truth be told, it doesn’t seem to matter very much what the answer is. Teacher? Doctor? Dinosaur hunter? The important thing seems to be that, even at three or four years old, we are already figuring out who we are as individuals and forging our paths into adulthood. As we age, we are met with advice to find ourselves, and if we try that for a while we might start to categorize ourselves. We might be free spirits, or businesswomen, or life-long learners, or homemakers. We start throwing our enneagram type and our horoscope into the mix, desperately trying to sort out and define what

Prayer: God’s Power and Blessing vs Stubborn Notions of Self-sufficiency

What comes to mind when you hear people talk about the power of prayer?

Maybe you’re all in–”Amen, sister!”

Maybe you internally roll your eyes a bit.

Or maybe you just kind of shrug your shoulders, indifferent. Prayer is akin to writing in a journal for you–beneficial, maybe even therapeutic, but your prayers are vague and with little expectation.

I fell into this last category until very recently. As background, I grew up with a mother who was a true prayer warrior, beating back the power of

A Wrestling Match of Worries

I’m normally a great sleeper (sorry to all you insomniacs out there!). I’ve gotten to the point where I get sleepy at an embarrassingly early time, at times competing with my own kids’ bedtime routines, but I need my sleep, dang it! Once I’m down, I can usually stay down for the night, a robust 6-8 hours, depending on the day’s schedule. That is, unless something wakes me (preschooler needing to go to the bathroom, preteen waking with a coughing fit, highschooler needing his middle of the night bowl of cereal fix…), at which point I’m wide awake.

And this is when the wrestling happens. Just me and my mind…Will I be able to get back to sleep?

Socials Sabbatical

It was time. I could sense myself getting overwhelmed in life. To the point that I’d turned to mindless scrolling to curb the overwhelming feelings I was having.

Sometimes when I have too much on my plate I can’t pick a starting point. Or, I start everything on my list and end up in bigger chaos. This past November, we had a lot going on with interviewing for future jobs post-seminary (my husband is a 4th year student). We were in a busy time of year with homeschooling and Jason’s class load being heavy, in addition to our outside meetings.

I just started to feel the pressure of the pile-on. So, I

Detangling my Self-worth from the Flaws I Loathe in the Mirror

Even now, eleven years later, I can still remember the first time a boy pointed out a pimple on my face. We were standing in the lunch line and he mentioned it. That’s it. He just pointed it out and turned back around after I made a face at him, eyes burning with tears. To him it was a simple observation, but to me it was the soul-crushing realization that other people could see my flaws that I tried to keep far away from the daylight. That moment started a years-long battle against my skin, and even my own identity.

At first, it seemed I might just get a few pimples like some of my friends. Pimples that you’d notice, but that would go away within a few days. I reasoned

Sabbath: A Day of Delight

In my mind, for as long as I can remember, church attendance has been equal to keeping the Sabbath. My father was a pastor, so Sunday was a work day for him, and I don’t recall there being a separate time or day set apart for the Sabbath outside of the communal worship experience.

In adulthood, I too ended up working on Sundays, either as an organist or Sunday school teacher, while my husband would often be involved in leading Bible studies. It wasn’t until the pandemic hit that many of us realized how hard we were working every Sunday, and what a relief it was to finally be able to rest.

Solitude as a Spiritual Discipline

There is a lovely little book of essays on all aspects of womanhood called A Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Somewhere in the second chapter she calls women the “eternal nourishers of society” and talks about how women constantly feel the pull to serve everyone around them: their children, spouse, parents, and wider communities. Such constant service often leaves women completely drained as they pour themselves out over and over again for those around them. How do women replenish their energy? How do they fill their pitchers to the brim once again?

According to Anne, solitude is the key: “Women need solitude in order to find again the true