15 Ways to Pray for Your Church

I love Easter Sunday. Everything about it ... from the little girls with hairbows bigger than their heads to the teary eyes throughout our sanctuary as we sing of the resurrected Christ. I love the newness Easter brings, the hope and the life we experience in Christ. Last night our church was blessed by the music of the SOZO children's choir from Uganda. {Here is a live video from our Sunday morning service.} Y'all, my heart could have burst as these beautiful children sang of the love and ... [Read More]

10 Tips for a Great Quiet Time {2016 Update!}

In 2012 I wrote a post with tips for a great quiet time ... since then, it's been shared, pinned, tweeted, and viewed thousands of times. It's a great post and I still believe every word of it. But, Ithought it might be time for a little bit of updating and adding some new ideas and resources for those of us who find having this daily time in the Word overwhelming or intimidating ... and maybe even a word of encouragement for those who might wonder if it even matters at all. {Here are some other ... [Read More]

Why Am I Here? Knowing God’s Purpose for Our Lives

Why am I here? Have you ever wondered if anything you do matters? If there's any sort of value in all the day-to-day mundane? I get it. In the middle of all the laundry doing, meal planning, and kid taxi-ing, it can begin to feel like we've lost any sense of purpose.  Even our conversations with our husbands can become more about schedule coordinating than soul connecting. How can we know God's purpose for our lives? Can we really live in His purpose during the chaotic season of raising ... [Read More]

Listening when Life Is Loud

It's barely 8:30 a.m. and I've already heard from a friend whose husband is stuck in the floods raging in Louisiana and from my daughter who had made the difficult choice to step away from something she loves because she knows it is the best decision. I saw the doctor yesterday and there are a few minor health questions we haven't yet found answers for. And that's just the past day .... life is hard, y'all. So many needs and hurts and sorrows. And I ache for all of them. Sometimes my world is ... [Read More]

Untouched by Trouble

The fear of the Lord leads to life. Then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Proverbs 19:23 Proverbs 19:23 is the memory verse that goes along with this month's Prayers for Girls calendar. I have it written on an index card propped up on my desk where I have my quiet time and study to teach and even occasionally blog. That word, content, it gets me every time. This is my great battle: to be satisfied with what the Lord has given me. More, different, other — my heart and mind drift that ... [Read More]

When Prayers for Girls becomes Prayers for Myself

Y'all, Prayers for Girls is really doing a number on me. In the best possible way ... but also the hardest. I can't even begin to list all the ways God has met me in the middle of my utter helplessness over the past few months as I've tried to shepherd this growing tribe of mommas who are desperate to cover their girls with the Word. I have all the feels, y'all.  ALL of them. The more I pray through these Scriptures for my daughter, the more I realize they are also my prayers for myself. This ... [Read More]