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Joseph-Beauty from Brokenness
Matthew 1:18-25 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public…
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Mary, did you know?
We first meet Mary at perhaps the scariest moment of her life, when she is face to face with an angel. Angels in scripture almost always begin their messages with variations of, “Don’t worry! Be not afraid! Chill out.” In the Gospel of Luke we meet Mary as a young teen girl engaged to Joseph,…
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When the Rains Delay: Lessons from a Spiritual Drought
My family and I used to live in the Gulf Coast area, where it would rain almost every day. Just last year, we moved to a small town in Columbus, Texas. We live in the middle of nowhere. Our neighbor has his own little farm where he raises these beautiful milk cows. It’s breathtaking when…
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When the Harvest Hasn’t Come—Joy in the Waiting
Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. James 5:7-8 I can’t count how many times I have stood…
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God Brings the Harvest
Mark 4:26-29 The Parable of the Seed Growing 26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in…
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Sowing In Tears
Do you ever feel like you are trapped in a cycle of difficult seasons? Like just as one comes close to an end, something else starts falling apart? Winter after winter with no relief? I certainly have. There are a myriad of emotions involved in difficult times but I think the one that is the…
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Fear of Rejection
I’m used to not belonging. As a child, my family moved six times before I turned seven. We would go on to move two more times—once when I was 14 and again at 18. I felt like the perpetual new girl, always stepping into new places and trying to find my way into new friend…
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The Call That Fear Couldn’t Cancel
If I close my eyes, I can still picture that night, the night I knew God had called me into ministry. I remember where our youth group was sitting, toward the top of the San Antonio Convention Center. I remember the testimony of a missionary from Vietnam who spoke at that Mighty Warriors Conference. For…
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Fear is in the Eye of the Beholder
I had been dating my now husband for about a year when I called him forty-five minutes from midnight to come rescue me. “Bring help! And a weapon!” was most of what I said before I hung up. This was out of character for me because asking for help has never been one of my…
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Balancing Hats: Navigating Fear, Faith and People-Pleasing
Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved to dance. She would move gracefully across the floor to each beat of the music. Her classmates would watch in awe and anxiously duplicate the routine along with her. She had the biggest smile on her face as she pranced around the stage. Dancing…