Encouragements Archives - Page 3 of 8

The Purpose of the Wise Men

The other day, I was talking to my parents about the difficulty of Mary’s journey to Bethlehem and my compassion for her riding a donkey while nine months pregnant. Ouch! She must have expected a little easier journey considering whose child she was carrying. Anyway, in the course of all that, I happened to mention the wise men, and my amazing Bible-scholar dad said, “Well, you have to remember that there were no wise men at Jesus birth. That’s not historically accurate. According to scholars, Jesus was probably around two years old when the wise men arrived.” I know! Seriously? …

When life hands you lemons (Lessons from Batman)

I came across a great quote the other day from @TheBatman on twitter. His quote made its way into one of my books, so watch for that. The quote is: When life gives you lemons, be thankful it’s just lemons. Life could have shot both your parents in a dirty alley when you were 8. Love him or hate him, you can’t beat Batman for angst. For a moment, I want you to pretend that Batman is real and that you don’t cringe when you watch Ben Affleck as Batman and that your eyes weren’t scorched by Lego Batman in …

School Supplies

Are you buying school supplies? I am. And yearbooks, and lunch fees, and tennis shoes because all of my kid’s feet have grown, and fees for clubs, and band, and everything else in the world. I’ve joked a few times that I feel like I’m bleeding money at the start of school, and I know many of you feel the same way. However, when I said it to my mom, she reminded me of a story from my childhood, and I knew I had to share it. When I was nine years old, we lived in a rental house in …

Ginger Nut

It never occurred to me that I was inviting death into our home as I stood in the pet store, waiting for the employee to retrieve the chosen one. Luke had dreamed of this moment for months. It was all he wanted for his birthday. He read the mommy-required reading on guinea pig care and practiced responsibility with our dog. The tiny little orange runt of a guinea pig sat cradled in his arms as if it belonged there, while I filled out the pages and pages of contracts and forms–for a guinea pig. For the next fifteen months, Luke’s …

I could be in Florida but…

I sat in the passenger seat with my hands folded to preserve my freshly manicured nails. Usually they are a mess from house cleaning and craft projects and general neglect, but my mom had taken me for a much needed manicure just the day before. All morning I’d fidgeted and packed and repacked and removed things all while carefully preserving my nails, and now I was finally on my way. My dear husband sat beside me calmly smiling as I went through my list making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. “You’re going to be great,” he said for the millionth …

Faith Before, Encouragement After

Do you remember that incredibly iconic scene in the movie Indiana Jones where he steps off a cliff into nothingness? I’ve often pictured that scene when I’m encountering a moment where I can’t see ahead of me and I have to take a step anyway. It’s equal parts terrifying and encouraging. How do you trust in that moment? How do you find the faith to leap? I’ve had a couple of instances lately where I’ve desperately wanted a word of encouragement. I was facing a cliff and all I wanted was a word saying… “leap”. Or, “it’s going to be …

Take heart. I AM.

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a blog called “Stop Being Alarmed”. It’s a word that’s been burning in my heart for a while and this month I had the opportunity to preach the full message on my parent’s monthly podcast for October called Seed to Seed. I was so blessed to be entrusted with the responsibility and glad to be able to share. I hope you’ll be encouraged with the word as well. Click on the link below to listen to this months message please feel free to share it. Take heart. I AM October 2016 Seed-to-Seed Message …

Watching Grass Grow

I have baby grass. It’s tiny little green fuzz that you can only see when the light catches it just right. It’s a lawn of promise right now… but such a beautiful promise. Every summer in our new home, the entire backyard dies. The trees, which we love so dearly, completely block out the sun and when the temperature hits over 100 degrees, the lack of sun and the heat chokes the life out of our lawn. We have come to accept that for three months out of the year we are doomed to live with dirt. I repeatedly encourage …

Stop being alarmed…

Five years ago, Matt and I moved our children from a private school we loved to a public school we have grown to love, and for me, the transition was brutal. Though it was my kids who made the actual transition, it was me who fell apart. We went from the safety and security of a cocoon-like environment to one of perceived danger around every corner. The private school was small, family-like, well-structured, with great communication to parents. The public school was enormous, double the class size, little communication, and in general it was sink or swim. I jumped in …

Hope in the Seed

A couple of months ago, Matt and I decided that we needed an exit strategy for our business. One day, we will want to retire and what will we do with all of our dear clients and business when we do? It’s not something you tend to think about when you start your own business, but I’m sure it’s something we’ll think a lot about in 25 years time. Anyway, we decided to go and speak with some financial advisors whom we had met at a meeting where they spoke on the subject. We didn’t know them well, they hadn’t …

Page 3 of 8
←
1
...
2
3
4
...
8
→