One of the best and most valuable lessons the Army taught me was that I was dispensable. You may be thinking, "Best--wait, what?" Though our inclination is to see dispensability as a bad thing, it can actually be a really good thing. Let’s take work for example. Maybe you feel like you have to take care of everything at the office. Maybe you feel like things will fall apart if you're not always … [Read more...]
Tempted Much?
April 7, 2017 by
It's a daily struggle for every single one of us. Temptation comes in many forms. It may be a temptation to engage in a sinful behavior or to stay stuck in dark, negative thoughts that try to pull you away from God and his purpose for your life. What do we do with this challenge? We can't let our thoughts win. We have to shoot them out as quickly as they came in. In the words of Martin Luther, … [Read more...]
You Don’t Know Better Than God
April 7, 2017 by
"When you think you know better than God, that's like taking the baton from his hand when he's already finished the race and trying to beat his time." - Family Life Radio I love this analogy! So, what things do we do that indicate--whether we realize it or not--that we know better than God? There are many, but here are a few that came to mind when I heard this today: 1. Judgment: I'll say it … [Read more...]
God’s Fault or God’s Problem?: A Tribute to Pastor Greg Rohlinger
April 7, 2017 by
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of an awesome soul, Pastor Greg Rohlinger. In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that he died; in other ways, it seems like forever ago. Emotions are tricky like that sometimes, especially grief. As a tribute to him on this sad day, I'd like to share one of the many things he taught me. Not by accident, Greg was in my head last week. I've … [Read more...]
MLK
April 7, 2017 by
As we close out this MLK day, I thought I'd share some of my favorite of his quotes. I was reviewing several of his quotes today and settled on these three as some of my favorites. He said many wise and insightful things, so this doesn't come close to representing his passion, but I guess I like these in particular because they mirror sentiments I have expressed previously. On hate, that … [Read more...]
My Papa and Danielle Bregoli
April 5, 2017 by
My family just buried the most amazing man I have ever known: my Papa. My grandfather was 91 years old and led a life of impact. Among many other things, he fought for his country in World War II, he was active in the local church, he was the mayor of our Texas farm town, he was a hardworking small business owner and he never met a stranger. I know he had his faults, but I'm pretty sure he was … [Read more...]
Female Empowerment: A Letter to My Daughter
March 22, 2017 by
Recent events and a friend’s very powerful post have me thinking a lot about empowering our girls to become women. We can protest, we can share feministic ideals, we can proudly declare our femininity, but what are we really doing on the ground level to teach our girls how to become strong, independent women who are respected, valued and taken seriously? Here are just a few of the things I hope … [Read more...]
Stop Living in Fear
March 13, 2017 by
Fear comes from the Enemy, and it plagues all of us to varying degrees. There are at least as many things to be afraid of as there are people to be afraid. Here, I’m not talking about being afraid of snakes, elevators, spiders, bridges and so on. I’m talking about fear that keeps you from moving forward in your life. When we are blocked from doing something, however big or small, it’s fear that’s … [Read more...]
The Orlando Shooting: A Common Enemy
March 12, 2017 by
I started doing research for this post at midnight, after lying in bed thinking about it for over an hour after my husband and I had a lengthy discussion about recent goings on. Needless to say, I've thought about this a lot before writing it. Only God knows why I am up at this hour writing it, but I felt compelled to write about my thoughts. Am I doing it out of passion? Out of hatred? Who knows? … [Read more...]
Live in It or Learn from It: Overcoming Parental Abuse and Neglect
March 8, 2017 by
As you might imagine, I talk with people on the regular who were abused, neglected, abandoned and/or betrayed by their parents. Whether we like to admit it or not, our upbringing has a significant impact on our present-day living. This can be good or bad or some combination thereof. It may not be something we are consciously aware of, but trust me when I tell you that it's there. I've also seen … [Read more...]
