Centered Seconds

Today, I want to scream into a pillow and cry. I want to shake my fist at the sky and ask God, "what are You doing, already? When will You end this?"

Centered Seconds

The world tells us to "do what's best for you" while simultaneously pushing the "we are all in this together, so make sure you put others first." That seems contradictory. And yet, scripture tells us to love each other and care for one another, sometimes at the expense of our own comfort. 

Centered Seconds

I believe we are amid a descent in our society. Division at every corner, literal and proverbial. Each conversation, post, or interaction might be the step that sends us tumbling down like Jack and Jill.

Centered Seconds

The current climate of our culture is like Death Valley. Dry, parched, blistering, little hope for life, little hope for a future, you get the point.

Centered Seconds

There is nothing more humbling than being lost. Not knowing where you are or how to get where you are going is debilitating. This particular situation happens far and few between these days thanks to GPS, but every now and then, we find ourselves turned around, searching for a way.

Centered Seconds

For my whole life, travel has been in my bones. Meeting new people and seeing how the Lord works worldwide breathes new life into my soul. So when I stay home and hear about my husband's adventures, I pray for tons of grace from God, and He has been faithful to cover me in it.

Centered Seconds

About 15 years ago, I decided to get a permanent reminder of who is Lord of my life. I knew I wanted it on my wrist so that I could always see it, but I wrestled with what design I wanted. It needed to be perfect; which coincidentally was the lesson I was about to learn.

Centered Seconds

#Blessed has nothing to do with what we have or don't have. Instead, it's the posture of our heart.

Centered Seconds

Weaving is a bit like life. I often question what God is doing, and I get frustrated with His choice of plans. I disagree with hardship or pain because I don’t see the whole picture. It doesn’t fit with my definition of good so I assume it can’t possibly work within the tapestry of my life.

Centered Seconds

Being a parent has taught me more about God than any other thing I've done in this life. Now that I have a few years of it under my belt, I wonder if I would have chosen differently, knowing the amount of pain and hurt that goes with parenthood.

Centered Seconds

I think every generation wants something better for the next. We want to see more justice and equality. We want to see medicine eradicate cancer and corona. We want to see leaders who aren't self-serving or solely driven by money and power. God wants those things too.

Centered Seconds

I dreamed of one day having a real mini-me to tote around, caring for it, and being loved no matter what I did. But my desire to be a mom and the reality of having a child never quite lined up as expected.

Centered Seconds

Jesus reminds us of how important children are to Him. Does our culture do the same?

Centered Seconds

I desperately want to make a difference and impact lots of people for the kingdom of God. The problem is my “Godly” ambition is easily twisted into selfish motives, and before I know it, I am doing things to impress others, rather than simply following Him.

Centered Seconds

In a world filled with so many choices and uncertainties, it can feel overwhelming to know which way to go—trying to hear God can be even harder amidst the noise.

Centered Seconds

How often do we try to escape the hard stuff by putting on rose-colored glasses?

Centered Seconds

Week 5 - Stone Hearts. This is one stone in the Bible that God wants to transform completely. It isn’t a memorial or a weapon. A stubborn heart leads to pain, loneliness, and death if left unchecked. 

Centered Seconds

Week 4 - How often do you attempt to build shoddy fortresses in your day-to-day instead of going to the Solid Rock?

Centered Seconds

Week 3 - What battle are you fighting?

Centered Seconds

Week 2 - The stones with which we use to build our lives are susceptible to rot. We don't have to watch our houses crumble.

Centered Seconds

Week 1 - Find out what we can learn from the Israelites after they crossed the Jordan.

Centered Seconds

Join me as I begin a series entirely centered on how stones appear in the Bible.

Centered Seconds

Perhaps being generous with whatever we have is a key to living more freely, in the want and in the plenty.

Centered Seconds

Do you ever feel like you are hiking in flip-flops?

Centered Seconds

I am a person who desperately needs space and independence. Freedom from other people's schedules. Freedom from others' expectations. But being a mom requires me to set down ME time and make it WE time.

Centered Seconds

This is how God’s Spirit works. His love within us can’t be shut in.

Centered Seconds

What is the awkward space called?

Centered Seconds

We have to be intentional about being with Him. Not just to do the things on our list, but to share the gifts of his spirit with the world by entering into his presence every day. We have to set down our expectations and pick up His direction. 

Centered Seconds

How often do we get panicked by some sort of fear, get distracted, and go looking outside of our own backyard? Good news: Jesus gives us a path that leads us to our forever home. Even if we never go past the fences.

Centered Seconds

My faith is often too dependent on how I am feeling or what's going on around me that I forget who I am talking to.

Centered Seconds

Centered Seconds

Rather than asking the question: "what is good?" shift to: "why is Jesus good?"

Centered Seconds

Want peace in the storm? You have to go through the Gate.

Centered Seconds

Life can be like walking through a dark room. Sometimes we are ok and don’t get hurt but when new obstacles arise, it is so easy to stumble in the dark. 

Centered Seconds

What would life look like if you were satisfied?

Centered Seconds

Join me during during the Lent season as I explore the times Jesus says I AM. It begins at the well.

Centered Seconds

Are you willing to let Your Hope be centered on the potter who rejoins brokenness? The One who heals more than just the body, but who heals the soul.

Centered Seconds

How do you help keep this death-filled world from rotting away? You shake!

Centered Seconds

From the very beginning, before time, you were a masterpiece in the making.

Centered Seconds

Do you keep going through the same thing, back to the same patterns of habit, the same sins, or maybe just reliving the same moment in your head until you feel worthless? 

Centered Seconds

In our world, we see lots of broken people and misfits. There are orphans, outcasts, and odd men out. To them, it may feel like they don’t belong anywhere, let alone to any-One.

Centered Seconds

Something about the idea that God cares greatly about even the smallest desires of our hearts, brings me so much hope and my prayer is that it does you too.

Centered Seconds

It’s easy to become dizzy with the world around you, fighting to be noticed, fighting to stay on top. The fear of melting into the ground or even worse, looking so much like everyone else and become part of the pile, can cause you to forget what you were created to do. 

Centered Seconds

I invite you to join me as we wade into 2020. Let’s fix our eyes on the Truth of who we are in Christ. My goal is to encourage you to see yourself through this lens.

Centered Seconds

Start off the New Year, New Decade by letting go of the past...

Centered Seconds

Word of mouth. You’ve heard this phrase before. You’ve probably used it a time or two. But what does this mean? The idiom word of mouth, first used in the 1500s, is an Anglicization of the Latin phrase “viva voce,” which literally means with living voice but is usually translated as word of mouth.

Centered Seconds

Let’s take a moment and review the Nativity story up to this point: Mary rode a long way, very pregnant, on a donkey, A nice member of Joseph’s family made some room

Centered Seconds

Are you like me? Do you love digging deeper...trying to understand a bit more of what things look like beneath the surface?

Centered Seconds

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.

Centered Seconds

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”