Fear grips tightly. I‘ve known the daily struggle to throw off the chains of fear. I’ve learned to pray through these times. I focus my mind on that which is true and of good report. I meditate on scriptures, which remind me to trust in the Lord with all my heart- and my faith is made stronger. Fear is replaced with peace.
Read more31 Days: New Beginnings, Journal
My newest printable journal, 31 Days: New Beginnings, is a packed full of beautiful quote graphics and scriptures that celebrate new beginnings. The arrival of spring and the celebration of Easter is a good time to ponder the gift of new life that Christians have been given, through grace, because of Jesus.
31 Days of Scripture: The Character of God (a free gift for you)
The Delight in Doctrine series that Melanie have been publishing on Wednesdays is on hiatus for one week. In the meantime, I'm excited to share a resource that's closely related, something I've been working on for you! I have a new printable journal called, 31 Days of Scripture: The Character of God. It's a free gift for you, my way of letting you know how much I love and appreciate you.
Read moreFear Fighting By Knowing Who IS
My son and I drove over a bridge we’d driven over a hundred and one times. It happened to be dark. Very dark.
Son, let me ask you a question, “How do you know that water is still there?”
Read moreMaking More of Jesus at Christmas with Teens
Making much of Jesus over Christmas isn’t only about commemorating our Lord’s birth. Making much of Jesus is about following his example and living in a way that brings glory to God. As Christians, this what we are called to year-round, but the holidays are a special time of year, where people are often particularly sensitive to the things of God. @@We can use the holidays as an opportunity to be a light in the world for Jesus@@ and we can lead our kids, through our example, in what this looks like.
Read more5 Ways to Seek Truth
We had been trying to teach our four-year-old the importance of telling the truth.
Jokingly, Derek told Trent that his nose would grow long, like Pinocchio's, if he told lies.
If only we had known then, what problems this would cause. Poor Trent. He really believed Derek- and no matter what else we said, he was still scared of his nose growing long. He also started checking out everyone else's noses. It wasn’t a healthy fear.
Read more31 Days of Proverbs, A Gift for You
When I was a little girl, there used to be a little plastic box (that looked like a loaf of bread) sitting on my kitchen table. It was full of cards that I would pull out and read while I was eating breakfast. Each card had a different Proverb on it. Those were some of the first scriptures I remember reading on my own. I have always loved the Proverbs. They're straightforward, practical, and all about wisdom.
I was thinking about that box of cards the other day when I got the idea to make something for you, dear readers, a free printable booklet with Proverbs. I've combined my love of designing graphics with my love of scripture in a way that I hope will be useful to you.
Read moreGod's Mercies Never Come to an End
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. " Lamentations 3:22-23
These words of encouragement from Lamentations were first written by Jeremiah, a prophet during the last years of Judah before Babylon plundered the country and took its people into captivity. Jeremiah had a hard and dangerous job, a lonely job- but he trusted in the faithfulness of God. God had sent him to warn the people of what would happen if they continued to follow the evil ways they were living. Jeremiah was imprisoned and tortured for speaking the truth, and he eventually did witness to the destruction of his country.
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God's Plans and Small Beginnings
“For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice,” Zechariah 4:10
God spoke those words of comfort and encouragement in a vision given to Babylon’s appointed prince of Judah, who was attempting to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem after it had been destroyed. God’s people had spent many years in captivity, but Cyrus, King of Babylon, had decreed that the Israelites could return to their land and rebuild the temple. The man in charge of this was Zerubbabel.
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