Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6, NIV. Our lives are comprised of moments and experiences. If I cataloged your life through puzzle pieces, what would some of those portions of time represent? What if you took one of my life’s puzzle pieces and tried to replace it with parts of your story? You may think, “That would be great! I’ll take all of your happy memories and I will replace them with the fragments of time I would like to forget.” While that sounds tempting, but my experiences would never fit your story. And vice versa. The complexity of your experiences could never be an adequate substitute in my life. And, yet, I have longed for other people’s lives; their families, talents, ministries, and even their wardrobe – far too many times. CRUMPLED Paper As a child, I was extremely meticulous. I remember making a mistake with my homework and instead of crossing a line through the error (like my friends or normal people did) I would crumple up the paper and start all over again. Some nights I would…

“And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” Isaiah 30:18 I had an “aha” moment while reading the Bible this week. I have only heard and have said, “wait on the LORD.” We say, “Wait on the LORD,” and for good reason, there is a multiplicity of scriptures saying to wait on God. However, I have never heard anyone tell me that the LORD will “wait on me.” This scripture says that God will wait on us so he can be gracious to us. Incredible. God has moments when He will wait for us. God will stay true to His word; He will reign with judgment, but will also extend mercy to us who deserve penalty. Our loving Savior wants to give us a reason to be gracious and merciful; He wants to give us time to repent. He is patient, longsuffering, and kind. He is ready to meet us with graciousness and love. It is up to us to turn our hearts toward Him today. The latter end of this scripture is what we all know so well, “blessed are all they that wait…

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keeps thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:1-4. They say, “Write what you know.” Well, my husband and I welcomed a second baby in July and in this new season I asked myself two weeks postpartum, “What do I know?”  The first things that came to mind were motherhood, ministry, healthy friendships, the Bible, marriage, family, waiting on God, healing, anxiety… Okay, so lots of things came to mind… Trying to navigate a 2-year-old and a 2-week-old has been interesting. There is desperation within me to be in the presence of God, which can be difficult, considering my kids are calling on my assistance constantly. As they are crying out for me, I am reminded that it is the same way I need to cry out for God. Yes, there are developmental stages that we need to attain, but God will always be there. My little girl, who is two, is learning independence, but regardless…

Seasons do not last forever. My husband and I welcomed a baby boy to our family on July 8th this year, that is why you haven’t read any of my devotionals lately; I took a few months sabbatical from writing.  The newborn season is all things wonderful; the snuggles, the excitement of adding to our family, the newborn smell, the midnight feedings that leave me so exhausted, but fulfilled. I’m still in awe that a tiny human is dependent on me for his every need. But, this season goes by so fast. As tired as I was, I knew that his newborn cry would change, and I would never again hear the loud shrill in the middle of the night. Sure, he will cry, but it will never be the same as when he cried for the first time when we welcomed him into the world. His little cry is already deeper and, even though he just turned three months old few days ago, I miss the newborn days.  The season that we are in right now, good or bad, will come to an end. Maybe we will be standing in front of a closed door or walking through a…