Hi Friends, I’m in one of those marriages. You know the kind. One where my husband starts playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, and I am left dumbfounded that someone could so heedlessly skip right over the Thanksgiving season. Yes season! (I know about half of you are on team husband, but I press on.) I’m wanting to be more intentional this year about my thanks-giving. The cultivation of gratitude in my heart and life. And I’m starting this “thanks-giving” focus in an unusual area: What I’m not good at. Someone once told me that oftentimes, the very area in which we struggle the most is the area we have a wrong view of God. For example, if I struggle with being gentle to people through my day, perhaps I don’t truly believe Christ is gentle with me. Or patience. If I find myself regularly hurrying my children along or frustrated at listening to their long stories, I may also picture a God who’s always tapping His foot, waiting for me to get it together. For me right now, it’s peace. I can so easily be moving through my day when a random thought triggers concern. One thought leads to the next, and I’m suddenly worrying about my kids, their futures, the budget… anything can spin out into anxiety. Here comes the gratitude piece: Despite how I may feel, this truth is unchanged: when God thinks of my life, my future, my kids, His heart is at perfect peace. There is no storm of anxiety. God is the embodiment of every fruit of the Spirit, and His heart is at perfect peace. So how do we start to feel it? How do we get our anxious hearts to come into peace? How do we get our frustrated, stirred up souls to flow in patience? I think it starts with giving thanks. It starts with bringing our hearts before Him and taking a quiet moment to pray. Thank you, Father, that You are at peace. No matter what my life or future hold, You are not afraid, not taken by surprise, not worried. You are at rest. Thank you for this truth. Move my heart into Your peace. Make me more like You. — Anna |
I am a singer, songwriter, wife, mother, Jesus follower. I send out a 2-minute read every Tuesday about Jesus and life in God.
Hi Friends, Welcome to week one of the Advent Series! This year I am writing these Advent devotionals for those overcoming spiritual anxiety. (You can read more on that here if you missed it.) There is healing for us in this Advent story, and it starts at the very beginning. In Luke 1:26-38, we see Mary visited by the Angel Gabriel and given a most shocking message. That she, a virgin, would bear the Son of God. She is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, and it begins: Jesus spends His first 9...
Hi Friends, I’m planning something unusual for this Advent season. For the last couple years, I’ve taken the weeks leading up to Christmas to stare with you into the passages of Scripture about Christ coming as a baby. The birth of Christ is a storyline that’s rich in wonder. We could spend all 365 days of the year focusing on it and not exhaust all there is to see. This year, I want to immerse us in this story once again… But with an unusual twist. I am writing an Advent series for those...
Hi Friends, Sometimes the Holy Spirit sets up dominos. A string of happenings where when the last knocks over, you find it was aimed straight at your heart. He did that for me this weekend. But first, in bold is a chorus I’ve been singing about this, and below that are a few thoughts. Not somedayIn the futureRight now, these hands reaching in loveWholeheartedWithout measureI live and breathe for You, my God We were at a church this weekend where the congregation stands to hear the reading of...