Today I’m over at my friend Meadow Rue’s blog. Meadow Rue Merrill is an award-winning writer, contributing magazine editor and mom of six including Ruth, who was adopted from Uganda. Meadow doesn’t wear a clerical collar. She didn’t graduate from seminary, but she believes that God…
Spiritual Growth
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Freedom From The Tyranny Of People-Pleasing
God has given me freedom, but I don’t always live as if I am free. I get tangled up in the chains of ambition and people-pleasing. Although I am free in Christ, I sometimes willingly step into shackles that prevent from living in that freedom.…
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Great Expectations: What to Do When Life Disappoints
We expect great things out of life. But often life disappoints us. A while back, my husband and I were scrolling through Netflix, trying to find something to watch. I spied a movie with a plotline described as, “An accomplished pianist’s life takes a terrible…
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The Secret to Unfading Beauty
“Hey mom, can I buy this mascara?” “Can I get this lip gloss? I’ll use my own money. Pleeeease?” “Will you ever let me wear makeup? When I was thirteen, these were the questions I pestered my mother with constantly. After reading teen magazines, I…
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The Trouble With Living For Applause
We cannot live for applause. I came to this conclusion when I finished a slow tour through the book of Mark. As I read, I reflected and slowly contemplated God’s message to me in these words. The stories of the week leading up to Jesus’…
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Learning to Delight in the Gift
A while back I met a friend for lunch that I hadn’t seen in months. She met me with a hug and a beautiful bunch of pale pink tulips. My first thought was: They are so lovely! My second thought was: I didn’t get…
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Why Giving Up Control Isn’t Always a Bad Thing
“Sharla, you most certainly would be classified as a Field Marshal.” My sister-in-law’s words caught me off guard. I was sitting at the dinner table enjoying a relaxed meal with my extended family. We were passing potatoes and sharing stories when my sister-in-law began talking…
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Why You Need to Change Your Focus
I love movies. The story-telling. The cinematography. The sense that you are entering another world for a short period of time. One of my favorite “special effects” in movies is when the camera focuses on a person in the foreground while the background is blurry. Then…
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When You Feel Like You’re Straining Against the Wind
“He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.” Mark 6:48 Do you ever feel like you’re straining against the wind? This month, I’m reading through the Gospel of Mark and when I got to chapter six, I immediately identified…