Real Women. Real Life. Real Faith.
Last week I received an email from a Muslim asking me for more information about Christianity. Not wanting to waste such a precious opportunity, I carefully crafted my response in prayer for two days before I
replied.
And my reply may or may not have been inspired by today’s featured post.
[Read more…] about My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation, Grace & TruthAt the start of 2020, I set out with a group of women to read through the Bible chronologically. It was something I had been wanting to do for years, but had never been able to follow through with. I needed accountability.
I finished the reading plan the week before Christmas.
It was wonderful to not just have a plan, but to have a group of women to talk about what I was reading with.
Ever since I finished, I’ve been looking forward to 2021, debating on what to do for the coming year.
[Read more…] about Grace & Truth for the New YearMerry Christmas!
Can you believe this is the last Friday of 2020?
We wanted to close out the year by featuring three of our favorite posts from this year.
The criteria for making this list varied. We looked at posts with the most comments, our personal favorites, which ones were shared the most, etc.
These posts have been a blessing, and we hope they can bless you one more time before the year is up.
[Read more…] about Our Top 3 Grace & Truth Posts from 2020It was the 3rd of December when I realized I was already behind on my Advent reading. I was reading a devotional on my own, that I had missed that morning for whatever reason. And, my family and I were planning to read one together each night after dinner.
We read the introduction on November 30th, and that’s as far as we had gotten.
I would love to tell you that life with four teenagers is crazy, that I had a horrible migraine and a pinched nerve in my neck, but those are just excuses. Not that they aren’t true, but I know we always make time for what’s important to us, and I didn’t like what I was seeing.
Before the guilt set in too deep, I had to remind myself of God’s grace.
[Read more…] about Advent, Grace, & Truth“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
Job 1:21
The Book of Job used to confuse me until I read it alongside other women in Heather’s Facebook group Reading the Bible Chronologically. My confusion always began in chapter 1, right around the part where Job loses all of his wealth and his children, and the first thing he says is “May the name of the Lord be praised.”
Stories of people praising God in their greatest moments of tragedy have always made me wince, a little nauseous even.
Until I praised and thanked Jesus during radiation.
[Read more…] about Grace & Truth – The Sacrifice of PraiseCan you believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone?
Earlier this week, my family and I went to Austin, TX to watch my son run in his final State Cross Country meet.
Y’all, being a mom of a high school senior is rough. I’ve always been overly emotional (it’s the way God made me, I feel things deeply), but this year has really hit me hard.
[Read more…] about Thanksgiving Throwback and Our Grace & Truth Link-UpThe week after radiation ended, I returned back to work full time—and then some. Breast cancer is expensive, so I signed up for all the overtime I could. My battle cry for 2019 was “If I can just get through this, then it will all be better and we can enjoy life again.”
The first post-cancer mammogram in January was negative! “Now we can have fun!” we decided.
We booked a family vacation. I splurged on tickets to a music festival and a concert. My husband and daughter bought tickets to a different music festival and a sporting event. To top it off, they reserved a week in the Canadian wilderness to hunt bear with Grandpa Riese while I dreamed of a stay-cation writer’s retreat.
After pulling through 2019, 2020 would be the best year ever!
[Read more…] about Grace & Truth: Not CancelledI have four children.
The girls are twins.
Yet all four of my children are completely unique.
[Read more…] about Grace & Truth for MomsI’d like to introduce you to a special friend of mine from college.
His name is Darold, and we worked together in a group home as I studied for my degree in human development and psychology.
Even though it’s been almost 30 years, I remember his lessons like it was yesterday. He taught me real-life stuff you can only learn through experience.
But Darold wasn’t my boss or seasoned caregiver.
Darold was a resident – a middle-aged man who had never spoken an intelligible word or fully potty-trained through the night.
[Read more…] about Made in God’s Image, Grace & TruthAsk, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
Taken out of context, Matthew 7:7-8 is a genie-in-a-bottle scripture.
It’s one of those used and abused promises that turn confused believers into disheartened atheists.
And that’s when the enemy gets his wish granted.
[Read more…] about Grace & Truth for Jesus’ Promises
