Tag: trials
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The Gift of Grief: If Blue Were a Person (Part II)
In 2024, I experienced my fair share of grief, but thankfully, grief looks a lot different than it once did. When my father passed, I was a young woman, but mentally, I was still very much a child, and I handled grief a lot differently than I do now. The beautiful thing about grief is…
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The Gift of Celebration
There’s something that I need from you, the Lord whispered in my ear. I need you to set your pain aside and fill your heart with cheer. . Cheer? I scoffed. For what? I have nothing left to give. Some days it’s difficult even just to live. . That’s when He reminded me of an…
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The Gift of Joy: Finally Finding Freedom
How would you describe joy? Like a field of wildflowers on a bright summer day—vibrant and warm; free. If you asked me this question a month ago, this is probably how I would respond. God’s been speaking to me lately. He’s been speaking to me through pain, through waiting, through uncertainty, through trials, and tribulations.…
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The Gift of the Storm: Remembering Who God is
The storm reminds us that life is often chaotic, dark, and completely unpredictable. The storm tests our faith and pushes us deeper into God (or our idols). The storm reveals our inadequacies, our fears, our weaknesses, and all the things we seek comfort in—our addictions, distractions. The storm can bend us so far we nearly…
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The Gift of Summer
The heat of summer reminds us all to do the things that refresh us. There’s nothing quite like the taste of watermelon in July or finding shade under a wide-reaching tree. We begin to look forward to the rain. These are the things that refresh our bodies but what about our souls? Always remember to…
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The Gift of the Trial
Count it all joy when you face trials of various kinds, for you know that testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect so that you may be lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4) My father will always be my hero. He was a gambler; he had been gambling since he…
