Wrecked

My tires were aired, my chain was lubed and the panniers were bulging. Packing was definitely the biggest challenge. Four women preparing for a five day, two hundred fifty-seven mile bicycle ride across the state of Missouri were limited to mascara, toothbrush, T-shirt dress and Chacos. I’ll admit I was a little worried. I had never been to the Katy Trail, though I had researched it extensively and compiled a detailed agenda, which included bed and breakfast reservations as well as dinner plans. I had spent four months meticulously planning the trip. To conserve space I placed my items into …

Simply Enough

A Psalm for the most important relationship in my life, the one I have with my Savior Jesus Christ: Many times the pain of my life runs deep and I can feel it like a suffocating fire. I hurt and I feel alone. But then, a whisper from my Savior says, “You are never alone. I am with you in your darkest hour and even in this pain you are loved. YOU are the apple of MY eye. YOU find your confidence in ME alone. YOU are righteous by MY blood. YOU are forgiven.” The pain is still there, but …

Lessons Learned: Abide in the Vine

A Repost from My Journey of Faith Magazine 2016 by Mollie Moncrief Moore that can be applied to your life for this year. Life Can Get Hard 2015 was bookend with bad news for our family. On January 3rd, just after the start of a fresh new year, my oldest son’s good friend died in a car accident. He was 18. In December we found out that my beloved Aunt has stage 4 cancer. She is 58. I have found myself asking “why?” I have prayed for these loved ones and cried with them. I began to be fearful of …

Burden Carriers

A 2016 Repost from My Journey of Faith Magazine by Karina Allen current for today. 2015 was quite the year! There were so many highs and lows I feel like I have spiritual whiplash. There were amazing places I went to and amazing people I met. God opened several doors of opportunity that brought me closer to my calling. Then, there were the rough spots. There were several situations that continued unresolved for months. There were people who betrayed me. There was financial strain and a number of disappointments. One right after another, each circumstance arose. Good and bad, happy …

Hopeless to Whole

A Repost from My Journey of Faith Magazine by Brittany Glaze.  Brittany today is living proof that God has the power to change the lives of people for His purpose.  Thank you, Brittany for your words of hope to those who feel hopeless. On January 17, 2014, life was jolted into a warp speed spiral out of control. Things had been bad before, but not like this. After years of exhausting relationships and funds there was no where left to turn. The friend I was staying with could no longer give me a place to stay so I was homeless. …

And if not, He is still Good

The dictionary says thankful means “pleased or relieved” or “expressing gratitude and relief.” As I read over the definition right now, I ponder what it really means to me to be thankful?  Am I thankful?  Do I express gratitude enough in my life? When I think of gratitude or thanksgiving, the first thought that pops in my head are the people and things in my life I am extremely grateful for. Most people would agree, right? I know it was my first thought when I began to write about being thankful. I also wondered how many times a day I …

He Hears

It had been one of those weeks. Sometimes I had felt as if I could hardly breathe. I had been weepy and my emotions were raw. Usually, when I feel this way it is because I was tired from lack of sleep or exhausted from traveling or even tired from doing “good” things that I knew were worthwhile. Sometimes I felt something else was going on. It involved the spiritual realm; I knew God was up to something involving me in some way especially if I was being obedient to God’s leading. A spiritual battle was raging and I felt …

My Shipwrecked Life

Among the many definitions of wrecked, included are: any building structure or thing reduced to a state of ruin and the ruins or destruction of a vessel or anything. Its definition describes my life was two years ago. My life was so broken that it wrecked “my plans” I had for my life. To make a long story short my husband is a soldier and was deployed twice with the Operation Iraqi Freedom. When he returned home it took almost two years to get a job. Even though he is a considered a veteran he went unnoticed for many opportunities. …

The Greatest Love There Is

As the 2-year date that changed my faith and many lives approaches, I felt the Lord calling me to share this story in some way. I cannot stay quiet about His love and how he restored me and many others by His grace through a time of suffering. I am 24 years old. A few years ago, I would never have guessed I would be sitting here writing about my faith. I became a believer when I was small, grew up in a Christian home, and sought out the Lord as best I could in my younger years, which to …

Moving to HOPE

When you cannot find the light at the end of the tunnel, what is there to cling to? When the daily struggle of life seems too much to bear and you have nowhere to turn, what keeps you going? At the end of the rope, when the covers over your head are too thin to drown out the nastiness of the world, what is your blanket of protection? Sometimes the answers to these questions seem too difficult to think about, and the rainbow at the end of the storm seems too hard to reach. What keeps us moving forward? Growing …

Praying Before

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed….John 17: 1 John 17 captures the night before for Jesus. The next day would bring his arrest and subsequent crucifixion. Because He was fully divine and fully human, He knew what He was facing:  harsh judgment, abuse, condemnation, and horrifically painful death. When you and I have a challenge coming, how do we prepare? Reward ourselves with a good meal or a pedicure? Maybe some shopping therapy? Indulge in a chick flick with a big bowl of popcorn? Jesus could have hung with his friends … perhaps gone fishing or reminisced around …

Why do Christians Suffer?

    The answer is S-I-N! Before creating man, God prepared a perfect place for him to live, and in that Garden made every beautiful tree to produce food. Also in the midst of the garden, He planted the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Also a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there divided into four streams.  So God prepared a perfect place for the first two people; but perhaps Satan still was raging with hatred toward God for having him cast of heaven and will try to spoil His perfect people. God created Adam and placed him in the Garden of …