Category: Faith
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3 Ways to Encourage a Child Who Leans Toward Legalism and Perfectionism
“Ready, set, let’s head out,” I told my Sunday School group. Everyone clamored into line eagerly except for one little girl. I urged her to join us. “But you didn’t say go,” she uttered dejectedly. It wasn’t the first time her precision overtook her participation. She was always the first to duck out of unstructured…
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God is Sufficient for Your False Guilt
“I feel bad about…” I began. My husband joked it was time for my daily list of “things I feel guilty about that I probably have no control over anyway.” If only he wasn’t right! Too often, I find myself stuck replaying all the ways I could have done better, loved more, anticipated and therefore…
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3 steps to helping kids grasp God’s grace when they’ve messed up
She proudly led me into the hall, demanding I cover my eyes first. When she said “open them!” my jaw dropped. The surprise was a drawing done in pen and marker…first on paper, then all over the wall. “You drew on the wall?!” I asked, flummoxed by her surprise and trying to remember where her…
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Ruins and the Things That Last
We took a trip to England and Scotland recently. Some of our time was spent visiting ruins of castles, abbeys, and fortresses. The sagging, mossy walls with their abrupt openings told of rich histories and of human ingenuity. Strangely, rubble can be meaningful and beautiful! Standing in a crumbled courtyard reading a sign about the…
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Nothing Better To Do
I wonder if the disciples were more surprised when they discovered the empty grave or when Jesus’ nail-pierced hands prepared them breakfast. I’m a little startled every time I read about Jesus’ life on earth after the resurrection. He’d just proven that nothing – not even death – had authority over Him. He was the…
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Forever New
I love our Easter traditions. We decorate cookies while watching a movie that points to God’s mercy, like the 10 Commandments or The Case For Christ. Matt gives me Cadbury Caramel Eggs. We sing the same songs annually, like In Christ Alone and Up From the Grave. We read the same passages of God’s Word….
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In No Hurry
I am a person of hurry. No one who knows me hasn’t felt rushed by me at one point or another. But God takes His time. His plan to save us and adopt us as His own – in the fullness of time long-awaited – took time, humanly speaking.
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Who Are You Grateful To?
The children’s ministry at our church has focused on gratitude this month and I’ve loved that there’s a dual focus: who we’re grateful for and who we’re grateful to. We’re missing out when we forget who we’re grateful to because thankfulness loses its intent, reducing it to a mere feeling. Gratitude isn’t meant to be…
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26. God Watches Over Our Coming {I’m Tired, Lord Devotional Series}
“…the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 121:8) A life of faith is two postures lived at once: coming and going. The first posture mentioned in verse 8 is of coming to God. We come to God to worship and we come to God to be filled. We…
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15. A Prayer for Psalm 121:3-4 by Emily Robertson {I’m Tired, Lord Devotional Series}
Father in Heaven, I thank you for these promises over my life, and the reminder of who you are. I thank you that while I climb into bed each night, Often weary from the demands of the day And unable to let go of all that has weighed me down, You promise to keep me…