On Rejection

I wasn't actually sure I was going to tell you this today, because let's face it: who really wants to tell the entire world about her failures? But as I thought about it some more, I felt like I couldn't possibly withhold my failure from you, because then I would only be withholding from you a commonality, a shared struggle, some encouragement, maybe even some hope when you feel rejected. Because that's how I'm feeling today: rejected. Because that's what I've been today.  Rejected. I discovered that my book was not chosen as a finalist in a writing contest I was confident I…

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Start Over

Man, I messed up yesterday. I started out by trying to get these kids out the door to church.  One did what I told her to, and the other--well, the other one just did whatever the heck she wanted, wandering around the house with a chain necklace dragging on the floor (to entice the cat) under the pretense that she was "looking for her coat." And then I just lost it. Yes, over a lost coat and a chain necklace.  For goodness' sake. You'd think I would have waited for something a bit more important to freak out over, but…

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Persistent Prayer

I was going to write about fear today, since Halloween is on Saturday...but I realized I couldn't abandon my talk on the armor of God without one important aspect.  I know we've finished putting on every piece of armor, but there's one specific instruction that Paul gives us after explaining the armor.  And that is to pray.  Here it is in Ephesians 6, verse 18: Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Notice that your instructions aren't just to pray sometimes--like "God help me…

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Dear Addict

This is one of those posts I wasn't sure I was going to write. I've been sitting on it for quite a while. But with this being Red Ribbon Week, I felt now might be one of the best times to finally sit down and open up. As many of you know, Rapunzel's biological father passed away a little over 2 1/2 years ago. It's a complicated story--one for another day--but the long and short of it is that he was caught up in addiction. Addicted for close to 18 years to heroin, we lost him to a drug overdose.…

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Time to Play Offense: How to Wield the Sword of the Spirit

The very last piece of armor that we are instructed to bring with us into battle is our primary offensive weapon, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17).” What do we know about the Word of God? The Word and God are one and the same. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - John 1:1  In John 1:1 we read, “and the Word was God.”  This means that the Word of God is part of Him.  We also read that “the Word was with God.”  It…

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