Tag Archives: Jesus’

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Fighting Back with Joy and Sweet Tea – FGF Highlights, Lenoir City, TN

It is so good to be back in Fresh Grounded Faith season! What a fun group of ladies! I love those Tennessee sisters — they make me feel like I’ve come home to hang out with my BFFs that I haven’t seen in years. It was exactly what we needed for our first FGF this month. God is good.

Here are a few photos from our weekend. To see the entire album, click here. Thank you, Vicki Simmons, for the beautiful photos! Also, here are your photo booth pics. So fun!

Our volunteers rocked, as did their fearless leader, Sabrina Stamper. Big thanks to all of you! And while I’m at it, thank you to First Baptist Church Lenoir City and the four co-host churches for loving us so well.

And I had some of my favorite people with me this weekend…

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Why Victory Makes You Vulnerable

Sometimes life just wears us out, right? When we have to climb mountains of stress or sorrow, we just get tired. Hard stuff can wear us out and leave us feeling powerless.

But, sometimes our most vulnerable tired comes after we have stood on a mountain of success and seen God’s power.

Have you ever felt that kind of exhausted – the kind of soul-tiredness that shows up on the heels of a race well run?

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Live, Love, and Soar: How to Find Joy in the Season You’re In

It’s Sunday night and for the first time in 28 years, I am wandering around my kitchen trying to figure out what to do tomorrow morning. I don’t need to wake up a child for school like I have done for the past two decades, every Monday morning.

I don’t have to check the fridge to think ahead about what I will make for breakfast tomorrow. I don’t need to pull out a lunch box and make sure it is clean and free of Friday’s sticky leftovers. I don’t need to go into a boy’s room and check on his homework or his heart.

I don’t need to go ask anyone about their schedule for the coming week so I can plan transportation or meals. I don’t need to load the dishwasher so my kitchen is not such a mess at 6:00 AM because I don’t have to get up at 6:00 AM and there are only two coffee cups in there anyway.

It was only yesterday that I held my firstborn. It was only yesterday he started kindergarten. It was only yesterday that his little brother was born. It was only yesterday that we listened to Adventures in Odyssey. It was only yesterday that I snuck a paper cup full of Goldfish and Cheez-Its onto the top bunk because he couldn’t sleep. It was only yesterday that our house was full of the pings and buzzes of Mario and Pokemon. It was only yesterday that we were at orthodontists and soccer practice and debate tournaments and orchestra concerts and parent/teacher conferences and graduations.

It was only yesterday, but yesterday now feels like a thousand years ago.

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3 Scriptures to Help You Stand Strong: The Battle is the Lord’s

My hand was on the door handle, ready to open the stall and leave the bathroom. But then I heard familiar voices and stood perfectly still. The Sunday worship service was about to start, and two women from the church were standing at the sink talking about our pastor while washing their hands. They thought they were alone. Their comments about him were small and mean. They took turns criticizing the pastor’s sermon, his tie, and even his hair. I was so angry I could barely breathe.

That pastor? He was my dad.

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3 Gifts God Gives You When You Feel Insecure

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

Well, sister, that is some good news, right? Now, if I could only live it out!

I often lack confidence. Timidity sometimes gets the best of me. And, I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about. Timidity, fear, and a lack of confidence aren’t what our Father gives His daughters.

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When Resentment Steals Your Joy: 4 Questions and 1 Prayer

Resentment. We all feel it from time to time.

It’s like the invisible undertow in the ocean that sweeps away even the most experienced swimmer. It pulls at us. It sucks us down into a pit of bitterness.

We hold a grudge. We secretly fume about what he said or she did. We keep a running list of how we’ve been wronged. We review how we’ve been hurt.

It is subtle until it is sudden.