Bethany McIlrath

First and Second: Perspective On What Matters Most (Matthew 22:36-40)

Category: Bethany’s Guest Posts

  • The Christmas Choir You Already Signed Up For

    The Christmas Choir You Already Signed Up For

    All through the instrumental introduction, I was praying. We’d had a busy day – a busy week, a busy month – and many people were on my heart. Their needs and their joys played through my mind as the musicians on stage wordlessly proclaimed Christ’s glory. Then it was our turn to join in… Join…

  • Thinking On What We Already Have

    Thinking On What We Already Have

    ‘Tis the season for writing out wishlists, filling the calendar, and stuffing our stomachs! Our to-do lists our longer than usual. At this time of year, we tend to spend more time thinking about we need, want, or plan on than usual. Sometimes it’s refreshing and helpful to remember what we already have. Join me at…

  • Cling to Christ

    Cling to Christ

    Stepping into the airplane, I noticed a sign that made me laugh.  The content wasn’t humorous. It wasn’t the design that cracked me up. There wasn’t really anything funny about the sign itself… But it was stuck with packaging tape…on to the side of a jet plane. Jet planes travel around 600-900 miles per hour….

  • The Secret to Glorifying God

    The Secret to Glorifying God

    Looking at others around me, I find it easy to assume they’re God-glorifying because of what great people they are. Sometimes I want to ask, “what’s your secret?” I don’t feel like I’m good at glorifying God. I mean to praise the Lord, but I end up assessing what could be better instead. I wish…

  • Grow in Grace

    Grow in Grace

    As a new mom, a friend of mine regularly reported sleeplessness. Sipping hot drinks while her infant alternated between fussing and sleeping, she told me how it had occurred to her one late, loud night that her baby was doing his job: He was growing. The sweet little guy didn’t understand what was happening as…

  • Confirmation After Faith

    Confirmation After Faith

    Sometimes when we beg the Lord for confirmation or a sign, what we’re really saying is that: We don’t want to walk by faith- we want to walk by sight. We don’t find His direction in Scripture enough. We don’t take Him at His Word that He’ll always be with us. God’s leading often asks…

  • Do You Think About These Things?

    Do You Think About These Things?

    “Bethanyland is a magical place,” I like to say to my husband when he calls me back to reality because I stopped listening and got lost in thought (again). The truth is, I spend a lot of time thinking. Most of us do. We dwell on things in the shower, in the car, at work,…

  • The Steadfast One

    The Steadfast One

    Our car broke down. Gainful employment was scarce. We’d struggled to find a new church community after moving. Loved ones faced challenges with their health and needed help, but traveling to reach them was more than we could afford.   Overall, it seemed we were lacking. We were short on finances, resources, energy, community, availability, and…

  • Oh You Of Lasting Faith

    Oh You Of Lasting Faith

    Oh you of little faith,” Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 14:31. I get it. The guy was sinking. His succumbing to the waves, we’re explicitly told, is because he doubted. So yes, his failing faith left him flailing in the moment. But before that? Peter got out of the boat. “Jesus,” I want to challenge, “doesn’t…

  • Here to Help

    Here to Help

    On any given day, my internet browser tabs featured Indeed, Zillow, Google Maps, and Bible Gateway.We were in a wilderness.The season we’d been in was ending, but we had no idea of our next. I’d like to say I waited patiently for God’s leading, but truthfully, my frequent visits to those tabs proved otherwise. I believed God…