When you feel pressure
If you came over from Encouragement for Today, welcome!
It’s the day after Christmas. My house looks like a bomb exploded . . . and I love it, because that means my home has been filled with my children, their spouses, and my three grandbabies (all under the age of 17 months).
I couldn’t help but think about that moment I shared in the devo. The moment I had no strength as my young children ran up the steep path without me. I had no idea what the future held, or if I’d ever be myself again.
But that leads to my promise I made to you today in the devo: to share three principles that can help you when you feel under pressure. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
10:35 am |
Charlotte’s Heart revisited
I wrote this post in 2009. It was shortly after a She Speaks event and she made an impact. Today Charlotte is battling colon cancer. In the past few months she’s gone through surgery and now she’s going through chemotherapy. Will you stop and pray for my friend today? As she faces her biggest battle yet, her faith and honesty about her struggles is real, raw, and inspiring.
I met her in the prayer room. The She Speaks conference was over and I just needed a little alone time with God. I saw a woman sitting in a chair.
“Do you need someone to pray with you?” she asked.
I sat next to her. “I’m just so grateful,” I said. “I really don’t need prayer, so much as I just want to thank God for what He’s done this weekend.”
She took my hand and we thanked God together.
I asked her if I could pray for her and then we talked. She shared her story, and it became another highlight in my week. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
4:40 am |
Nevertheless
Nevertheless.
She was in jail, addicted to meth; nevertheless, today she is a godly woman, she has recaptured the love of her children, and ministers as a chaplain in the jail in which she was once imprisoned.
She had an affair and wanted to die; nevertheless, she found hope in Jesus, and now leads a flourishing ministry for women who walk in the shoes she once wore.
She was high, destitute, pregnant; nevertheless today she worships in the front row, her hands lifted high, her beautiful little girl receiving a different life than the one momma once had.
He was lost, couldn’t get past the hurt of losing someone he loved, unable to reach out for hope; nevertheless God reached for him and he opened his arms wide and today he knows the love of a Heavenly Father.
I love this word: nevertheless. Perhaps it is the word that most resembles salvation to me. Not rules. Not people’s expectations. But rather God’s abounding love that runs deeper than any river. God’s mercy that is wider than the Grand Canyon. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
10:03 am |
Live free: Don’t forget the secrets found in the “secret place”
I opened my journal today. The last date was marked November 16th.
Was that possible?
Had I really not taken the time to sit alone with my Heavenly Father for over a month?
The “good girl” in me wanted to not share this. After all, how could I talk about the joy and freedom of knowing God and not be alone with Him? Would you think less of me?
But the reality is in the busyness I placed God last.
I didn’t stop loving Him. I didn’t stop reading about Him. I didn’t stop calling myself His.
But I want so much more than that. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
4:25 am |
When you don’t know what to say, say nothing
Have you ever struggled to know what to say? Perhaps a friend is going through a divorce she didn’t ask for, or she just received news that she is struggling to comprehend.
Twenty years ago I found out I had cancer. Many friends rallied around me, making life easier.
But I also remember fielding comments from a few that brought me to my knees–literally.
They cared. I knew that, but because they didn’t know what to say they said things like this: (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
4:00 am |
In the “wait”
I’ve been waiting for over four years for something. At first I asked why.
No answer.
Then I tried to make it happen on my own.
To no avail.
Doors closed one after another. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
9:42 am |
