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Speaking Words of Encouragement

Recently I went for a much-needed walk around my neighborhood. It was one of those nights when my mind was swirling with the details of life and my heart was heavy. As I walked, I saw an elderly couple that lives down the street. I visit with this couple from time to time, but we are not close friends. We talk about their health (which isn’t good), my kids, and we let our dogs sniff noses.   When I saw this sweet couple in their yard that night, I decided to stop and visit. It was a short visit but …

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Praising God at All Times

A favorite scripture passage of mine is Exodus 15. It is the song of Moses and the Israelites after they crossed the Red Sea on dry land. Verse after verse paints a vivid picture of God’s unfailing character. I especially love verse 11 that says, “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” The Israelites experienced God’s power first-hand as He parted the waters, allowed them to walk through on the floor of the sea, and drowned their Egyptian enemies. It’s interesting, though, no sooner than the praising …

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Running Buddies

Perhaps you’ve never ventured into the world of running and races. Maybe you don’t even want to! But even if your toes never see the inside of an athletic shoe, I want to suggest that you make sure you have some amazing running buddies in your life! As the cooler weather descends and the trees unveil their decadent autumn foliage, it seems only right to start turning our hearts toward gratitude. And I, for one, am grateful to the point of being humbled for the group I call my running buddies. Let’s be clear from the start. I don’t actually …

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Finding Joy

It was in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas, Ft Bliss, that I first met Judy. Perhaps it was the heat, the lack of any color beyond melted butter and toasted cacti, or the distance to the nearest lake that masked the joy of the adventure, but the desert brought out the worst in me. I fell victim to a depleted spirit as we left the lush landscape of Arkansas and the closeness of family for our first duty station at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas. With deployment looming and the day-to-day difficulties of being a mom with three …

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Sacrifice of Praise

Hebrews 13: 15 “through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.” The phrase “sacrifice of praise” has been ringing in my ears and lingering in my thoughts for weeks.  Over and over again I hear these words “sacrifice of praise” as I struggle to understand what the Lord is teaching me.  And in true fashion, today He revealed it to me and even gave me a song to sing!  No, don’t worry I will not record my voice and make you listen.  I will, however, as part …

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Thanks in Action

It’s Thanksgiving season again. The time to reflect on our lives, gather with family and consider our history as a country that was birthed by the drive to live in a new world where freedom and liberty set the foundation for society. As Christians, many of us take time during Thanksgiving to refocus and prepare our hearts for the impending celebration of our Savior’s birth. We will reflect on blessings and hardships, explore areas of Christ’s intervention or answered prayers over the year, and we will look intently and intentionally at what we have. There will be many Facebook posts, …

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Restored and Redeemed: A Marriage Story

We all have a story to tell. I would like to think that mine is not much different than yours, but I know that it probably is. As I think about celebrating 41 years of marriage, I know there was a time that the word “celebration” would not have been a part of my vocabulary in speaking about my life with my sweet, precious, ever patient husband. God knew when I married this man that my relationship with him would be filled with so many ups and downs, so many trials, but also so many joys….and He knew that this …

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Pure Joy

Stress. That would be the single word that best describes the last few years of my life. So much so that when we rounded the corner into 2014, I began to pray, “Lord, will You please grant me a season of rest?” I was so weary that it didn’t seem like a selfish thing to ask for. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to keep going without some time to re-energize. Maybe I just wasn’t specific enough in my request… ‘cuz I was kind of thinking about several months, maybe even a whole year of rest! And initially, it …

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly… Birds fly over the rainbow, why then oh why can’t I? These words, from the song made popular by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz, were sung to me by my mother when I was a young girl and when I was a new mother anytime I got discouraged or down. No matter what I was dealing with, she knew when to spontaneously start singing, and it always brought even the slightest smile to the situation. Today I don’t hear my mother’s wonderful voice as often…guess we thought I out grew it, …

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In the Wandering

Have you ever found yourself stumbling through the dark in the middle of the night? Whether it’s to calm a crying child or to find your way to the bathroom, we’ve all had the experience of feeling disoriented and frustrated trying to navigate through a dark place. Arms outstretched, we feel our way through the dark for something familiar. We hope our eyes adjust while we look for some sort of light. And then it happens. We run into an unexpected wall or we choose a path we were sure was the right way only to find out it didn’t …

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Soil of My Soul

I am going to be honest: I do not really know you that well. I don’t know if you are a 30-something mom, a divorced man, a hurting teenager or a heart broken widow. I don’t know what part of my testimony to offer you and what parts to withhold and keep guarded. So, as I write this I fully trust the Holy Spirit to intercede so that my words reflect God’s heart and encourage yours. Sticking to the theme of honesty, you do not really know me either. I am Katie. I just turned 30. I have experienced the …

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What If?

I keep asking myself the question, What if I lived my life as if I believed everything the Bible said is really true? What would THAT look like? I actually do believe that, but I know that through the years of life’s experiences I have unwittingly allowed little lies to creep in or built up protective walls to defend myself that can also be a barrier to real truth. Life seems to have brought one trial after another the last several years and this week dropped another bombshell. My initial reaction was not a calm reflection of the truth I …