There is something in this world that we never seem to have enough of. We can’t buy more of it and once we spend it — it’s gone forever. We can’t freeze it or hold on to it — even in the moments when we desperately try to. It keeps going…
Category: Life Lessons
Faith
Read more
A Growth Perspective
How do you define success? How do you measure growth? Do you think growth only occurs if there is a constant upward trajectory? I’ve been challenged this week about my view of growth and it’s been so good. It can be all too easy to “compare and despair” when it…
Faith
Read more
Blessings on Blessings
Have you ever just sat in awe of what God is doing in your life? Maybe you’ve seen Him working in the tiny details of your life and it reminds you that He sees you and cares about the little things in life? One of my favorite verses is James…
Faith
Read more
Feelings of Overwhelm
Do you ever judge your success in something based on how quickly you succeed? I know I have. It can be so discouraging when something that you’re super excited about doesn’t happen exactly how you expected. I heard someone say that other day that we need to learn to be…
Faith
Read more
Be Humble, Know Your Limits
Have you ever been in a situation where you needed help, and the person that said they could help you tried, but didn’t really help at all? They said that they knew what you were going through, but in the end their advice may have done more harm for you…
Faith
Read more
Perfect Love
Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever been afraid of God? Have you ever felt unloved, unworthy, or unimportant? Have you ever felt like a failure, a fraud, or a hypocrite? Many, dare I say all of us, have at one time or another experienced at least one of these —…
Faith
Read more
The Beginning of my New Adventure!
These past couple of weeks have been so full — in the best ways! Growth and change are quite uncomfortable for me and I have been in a busy season of growing and changing as I’ve been working on getting everything set up and ready to go for my new…
Grief
Read more
An Exciting Update!
In 2017 I prayed about starting a blog and as a result, “Embraced by Grace” was born. I’ve posted on and off over the last almost seven years, but have been super consistent over the last year and a half. My life looks radically different than it did seven years…
Life Lessons
Read more
Rejoicing in Suffering
Do you consider persecution to be a blessing? How about persecution for the sake of Christ? I bring these questions up because yesterday I read Matthew 5 and Jesus brings up persecution when He’s preaching The Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are nothing new to me. I’ve heard them before and read…
Life Lessons
Read more
A Response to Healing
I’ve been working my way through the Bible using The Bible Recap for a while and I have enjoyed it even more than I thought that I would. I’m currently reading through the Gospels and even though I’ve read them before, I’m noticing things that I hadn’t before — which…
Grief
Read more
Choose Your Hard
“Hard now, easy later; easy now, hard later” is a quote I heard somewhere and ever since then, I’ve realized just how much of life that applies to. More than just a catchy phrase, this has become a perspective shift for me. Realizing that this can be applied to nearly…
Life Lessons
Read more
Ready to Forgive
Have you ever read the book of Nehemiah? I’ve been reading through the Bible using The Bible Recap and yesterday I was in Nehemiah. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read Nehemiah before, but it’s actually a pretty interesting book. Nehemiah was a cup bearer to the King of Persia…
Life Lessons
Read more
Humble Obedience
I heard a sermon on Acts 10 this past Sunday at church and I’ve been thinking about Peter ever since. I keep coming back to the fact that Peter was told that he would be used by God for something important, but — to my understanding — wasn’t told what…
Life Lessons
Read more
Heart Change
Have you ever heard of King Nebuchadnezzar? If you have, have you ever learned a lesson from his life? He’s not considered a hero and you won’t find him listed among the great men of the Bible. He was the king of Babylon during the days of Daniel and he…
Holiday Posts
Read more
New Year, New Word!
Do you set New Year’s Resolutions? I don’t — I haven’t for years. I understand why people do, but they never work for me so I quit doing it. What I do like to do is to pick a word that becomes the umbrella from which any goals I might…
Life Lessons
Read more
Failing Forward
Something that I’ve learned about myself recently, is that it’s much easier for me to encourage others than it is to encourage myself. Anyone else like that? When it comes to others, I am able to see their potential and speak words of truth into their lives, but when it’s…
Life Lessons
Read more
When Plans Don’t Happen
Do you like things planned out or do you thrive on spontaneity? If you’re a planner, what do you do when things don’t go as planned? This is something that has been a struggle for me that God has been working on in my life for a long time —…
Do Small Things Well
“It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God — but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people — and this is not learned in 5 minutes.” ~Oswald Chambers~…
Grief
Read more
How Are You Doing?
“How are you doing?” is a question that I was asked more times than I can count within those initial days and weeks after my dad passed away. It’s just what people say and it was completely expected, but it was hard to answer. I had never really thought about…
Life Lessons
Read more
Asking Questions
Are you someone who likes to ask questions? Do you take the time to ask questions for better understanding or simply because you think you already know the answer? Over the last few months, I’ve learned that I need to become much better at asking questions — and then actually…
Life Lessons
Read more
Sourdough and Resiliency
I’ve been baking with sourdough for over a year now and I enjoy it so much! I appreciate the simplicity of the ingredients required (for bread) and love that I get to use my hands to shape it. I enjoy the smell of fresh bread, so when it fills my…
Health & Wellness
Read more
Headed Toward Healthy
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 I’ve heard this verse many times growing…
Garden Lessons
Read more
A Lesson from the Garden
Have you ever planted a garden with really great intentions only to let weeds take it over? That’s what we’re currently dealing with right now. We expanded our garden this year even though we knew we’d be adding another little one to our family in April, which meant we’d have…
Life Lessons
Read more
The Courage to Change
“Nothing changes if nothing changes.” I have no idea where that quote originally came from, but I’ve heard people reference it multiple times. Change is one of those things that, when I want it, I want it to happen now and when I don’t want it to happen, I really…
Faith
Read more
The Impact of Decisions
When you make a decision, do you always consider how it will impact those around you? I do sometimes, but I certainly can’t say that I always do. There are certain times when the decision I make is because of the impact it will have on those around me. There…
Life Lessons
Read more
Learning to Listen
Have you ever said something and immediately wished you could take it back? You weren’t really thinking about what you said when you said it, but as soon as it came out of your mouth, you wished you had taken the time to think about what you were going to…
Life Lessons
Read more
Run Toward Victory
Do you run toward victory? I’ve been reading through 1 Samuel and yesterday I read the story of David and Goliath. The entire account is incredible and I’ve grown up hearing the story, but this time as I read it something stood out to me that I’m not sure I…
Life Lessons
Read more
Flour, Water, and Salt
Have you ever made something that only used a few ingredients and been amazed at what can be created with them? I embarked on a journey last year to learn how to make Sourdough bread and while I wouldn’t consider myself a master by any means, I can definitely make…
Faith
Read more
Context and Empathy
“Context, context, context!” I remember hearing this at a camp I went to in high school. I also heard it in a Bible class while I was in college. In both places they were referring to the Bible and how important it is to read verses in their context. When…
Life Lessons
Read more
The Speed of Change
As I was driving the other day and seeing all the beauty in the changing colors of the trees, I realized something. When a tree begins to change colors, it doesn’t happen all at once. All the leaves on a tree don’t change at the exact same time, all the…
Grief
Read more
Changing Seasons
As the colors on the leaves change and the garden wraps up, it’s a sure sign that the warmth of summer has ended. We’re now in the season of preparing for winter and all the snow that comes with it. The changing of seasons always brings up so many analogies…
Life Lessons
Read more
A Model for Community
Have you ever looked at other cultures or different parts of history and thought about how so many things can be passed down generation to generation simply by being a part of a process? How so much can be learned simply by being around someone? I feel as though there…
Life Lessons
Read more
For the Joy!
Have you ever had to endure something that was hard knowing that it would be worth it in the end? Have you ever had to endure something hard not knowing how it would turn out in the end? The first two examples that pop into my head are exercising and…
Faith
Read more
Willing to Go
Have you ever thought that you weren’t able to be used by God? That maybe your past would prevent you from being used in the future? Maybe you’ve thought that God will use someone else to accomplish His work, but you never thought it could be you? The Bible is…
Life Lessons
Read more
A Popcorn Lesson
Do you remember what it was like to be a kid? When everything was exciting and new and you didn’t have any cares in the world? I learn SO many lessons from our boys and I recently witnessed our oldest watching popcorn pop in the air popper for the first…
Faith
Read more
In The Wilderness
Have you ever found yourself in the “in between” where you’ve left a hard/bad situation, but haven’t quite arrived to the finish line yet? Have you ever been in a situation that you felt was hopeless or unfair? A situation where you just want to be rescued and you longed…