worshiper, wonderer, writer – seeking to encourage faithfulness in Christian women
I believe an idol has crept into the church today that possibly started withwell-meaning purpose. Most idols usually do, after all. Self-care has become a popular topic in society lately. I thought about listing a few of the quotes that appeared when I googled self-care, but I'll just let you try it yourself. Many of …
As mentioned in Part 1 of this topic, despite the depravity of the human heart, we tend to go on heaping expectations on each other. And these expectations often go unmet, and we respond with shock, bitterness, anger, etc. about practically everything. Why do we do this? I think the answer can be seen in …
Continue reading "Replacing horizontal expectations with a vertical hope, Part 2"
I recently chatted with a dear friend who is about to move overseas to do mission work full-time. As part of the training she undergoes beforehand, she takes an inventory of her expectations in practically every area. Just hearing about it overwhelmed me, so I cannot imagine what she is feeling about having to do …
Continue reading "Replacing horizontal expectations with a vertical hope, Part 1"
We've been preparing for our longest RV trip yet, which means making far too many pink and orange highlighted lists and checking them a gazillion times a day. When it came time to order groceries (Instacart is my best friend), I requested 12 bananas. My shopper even asked in the chat to clarify, "You want …
Continue reading "Freedom in Christ, even in too many bananas"
Like Jesus, we need to be resolved to have fellowship with our Father. It won’t simply happen. It doesn’t have to look one single way, but the determination to do it needs to be there. This can even look differently in various seasons, but if we value it, we will make it happen somehow because we …
I started this blog series with a focus on how we need these rhythms of returning to Jesus' feet for renewal. But let's take that one step further. We also need these rhythms to help us remember. Remember when we walked through Mark 6? Well only a few short chapters later, in Mark 8, we …
Continue reading "Pursuing Rhythms of Remembrance leads to Self-Denial and Deeper Dependence on God"
As we endeavor to trust our Great High Priest and pursue rhythms of renewal, there will undoubtedly be times when interruptions come our way. How do we view these and with what attitude can we approach them? Are they actually interruptions? That's what we're going to begin examining this week as we continue our journey …
Continue reading "Rhythms of Renewal: Responding with compassion like Jesus to the interruptions"
As mentioned in my last post, I want us to take a moment to look at Jesus, our great high priest, and some patterns we see for how he lived his human life, specifically as explained in the book of Mark. This week, we'll begin by digging into what we can observe about Jesus from …
Continue reading "Seeking Rhythms of Renewal and Responding to the Immediate"
“Jesus stole my marshmallow!” The indignant eyes of my almost three-year-old glared at me in disbelief as we examined his first resurrection bun—the classic crescent-wrapped marshmallow that disappears after baking and symbolizes an “empty tomb.” Previous visions of theological discussions to help my child understand substitutionary atonement were instead dashed and replaced with the ideology …
Continue reading "The art of remembrance in our family traditions of Easter"
We started easing back into our rhythms and routines this week, as well as creating fresh ones, and I've been so encouraged by the work of the Holy Spirit in my heart through this process. You see, I love a plan. I love structure. And I fully believe we do well to have plans in …
jami lee gainey 