We don’t have to have all the right answers or know all the theological terms. We can simply share our story as an invitation for others to “Come and see.”

God did not call us to a life of constantly doing the will of others. We are called to do His will and live in the gifts He has given us - with purpose and for His glory.

We must embrace our inability and lean on His supremacy. Showing up with empty hands and an admission of insufficiency creates an empty canvas that God can fill with things we never imagined.

Feeling loved helped me branch out and be courageous. I think a lot of people misinterpret the Bible where it says “Do not be afraid”, but it says that because we are to remember that God is with us wherever we go and will comfort us.

By releasing my own agenda, I made room for God’s divine plan for my life. I am no longer afraid of the unknown. Instead, I can face tomorrow with confidence, as I put my trust in the One who holds my future.

In the grief stage, God slowly begins to heal our broken hearts. He bandages our wounds, protecting us from further infection. He gives us grief as a gift. It creates a space in which healing will eventually occur.

When we pray big scary prayers, we acknowledge our own weaknesses and shortcomings. We submit our will to His. When we align our will to his, we can ask God anything and he will hear us.

Yet I am certain that God’s goodness is there for the faithful ones who want to see it. So I let my children whine and question and then remind them that we go not for ourselves, but to see and remember the goodness of God in our lives.

We often wait until things are spinning out of control before we will sit long enough to bravely process our pain. But healing needs to happen at the heart of the wound for us to find freedom.

I am convinced now more than ever that tables are places of grace, sacred spaces of sustenance that infuse us with life, and make hospitality a faithful practice.

Tears started running down my face as I pushed my four-month-old on the trail. How could I even talk to God about this? Did He really see and really care about me? My little girl had already faced a life-threatening hole in her diaphragm; this just didn’t seem fair for her to have to face another major health issue. For the first time in my life, I pleaded and petitioned for my daughter’s life.

Real community happens through communion, conversation, and courage. And the deeper we connect, the more our differences settle beneath our unity.

The first step in understanding what to do when your priorities are out of balance is to recognize that things are “not okay.” Then you can bravely break away and rest.

Being bold isn’t just about pursuing outward acts that people can applaud. It’s about authentically pursuing God’s best for each area of our lives, one terrified step at a time.

There was a full-page quote that stood out like a neon sign. “God doesn’t call the equipped He equips the called.” In that moment, I knew I was being called and I knew I was woefully ill-equipped. After all, I was not confident in my leadership abilities and I had very little Bible knowledge.

Our dreams and desires aren’t always what is best for us, and God knows this.

This was God’s way of taking me gently by the hand and giving me space to just be His. The truth is, I needed rest. I needed time away to listen to all the things I usually am too busy to hear.

It’s easy to worship when life is good, but it takes grit to go to Him in the depth of depression when your heart is overwhelmed with grief. But what I found is when I bring God my praise in the wilderness, his presence becomes my greatest peace.

God knows we are going to get anxious at times, so he gives us ideas to help us through.

In a world of 3-second sound bites and meme theology, we need God’s Word to keep us grounded and growing, able to avoid distraction and discern truth from deception.