Several months ago, while dropping off one of my daughter’s friends, I heard from the backseat, Strugggulll! Apparently she was having difficulty unlatching her seatbelt. A few weeks later I heard her say, The struggle is real!
Curious, I asked my girls about it. Because really, I don’t think ...
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suffering
It’s NOT ok!
When someone I love is experiencing pain or frustration of any kind, my first words to them are usually something like, It’s OK. It’s going to be OK.
Well, you know what? When someone is hurting, it’s not OK!
A couple of years ago, my MIL had her first major hospitalization. Congestive Heart ...
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I Soaked off My Acrylic Nails
I soaked off my acrylic nails today. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. They don’t look so great right now. In fact, it will be at least four months before most of them are completely grown out and strong again.
I love having lovely nails. But I do not love the time it takes have them ...
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Displaced and Distressed
Life throws its curves. Sometimes I respond fairly well. Other times, not so much. Sometimes I start out great! Later, I crater in tears. I've been hanging out in the latter camp--displaced and distressed.
Our area has had A LOT of much-needed rain in the last several weeks. Over a week ago, a ...
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The Fragrance of Suffering
Frankincense, spikenard, myrrh, hyssop. Not sure which one it is, but the fragrance has clung to me all day. And I remember.
Every year a church in our area provides a walk-through "Passion Week Experience," Wednesday through Friday of Holy Week. It has become a regular part of my personal ...
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Scrawled or Legible?
Soon after my husband and I became engaged, I began the inevitable--practicing my new signature. No longer would I sign, C. Dianne Strangmeier. I would sign important documents as Dianne Thornton. I couldn't wait for it to be official! A couple of years ago I realized that I had become sloppy with ...
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![This week in our small group study, I felt the Lord’s gentle chastisement.
We looked at the promise in Luke 11:28, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”
At first glance, the promise of blessing comes from obedience. But it’s much more.
In the preceding verses, Jesus had cast out a demon that caused a man to be mute. The crowd accused Him of casting out a demon with Satan’s power.
Jesus explained how ridiculous it would be for Satan to drive out his own demons. Then a woman cries out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,” (v 27).
This is the sticking point. Jesus was in the middle of an important discourse when this woman interrupts Him. He corrects her with this:
✨ Blessed are those who HEAR the word of God and obey it.
That word HEAR means to LISTEN with FULL ATTENTION.
✨ We cannot truly obey God if we don’t know what He’s saying to us.
Basically, Jesus told this woman, and the others in the crowd, “Pay attention!! Don’t get distracted from my voice. I have important things to tell you. You won’t know what they are and what I want you to do, if all you’re thinking about is what you want to say or how you can gain attention. Put your attention on ME.”
It’s never fun to be Jesus’s object lesson.
The questions I’m asking myself …
✨ What keeps me from spending time alone with Jesus?
✨ When I finally get alone with Him, what distracts me?
✨ What keeps me from focusing on God’s Word?
✨ What causes my kind to wander when I’m praying?
➡️ Eliminating distractions …
➡️ Exercising discipline …
… to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
… brings true blessing.
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