It’s the word no one wants to hear: cancer.
We were three months pregnant with our baby girl. My husband had just been offered his dream job. My mom had just celebrated her fiftieth birthday. And then the call came from my mom.
After the call ended, as the tears started to fill my eyes, my reaction showed me the true nature of my heart. It showed me where I placed my trust. And it started a journey of God humbling me and renewing my faith and reliance on Him.
Sometimes prayer is hard. It seems like it shouldn’t be. The Lord’s Prayer appears so simple. Yet time and time again I find myself lost in prayer. What should I pray for? How do I pray? What are the “magic” words to make it work?
And maybe it would be easier if the outcomes of my prayers were more obvious. If what I prayed for automatically and miraculously occurred when I said “amen.” I mean, as I study the Scriptures, I see some amazing stories of prayer. Continue reading “Prayer in the Mundane”
These past couple of months, my prayer life has been like a drought, cracked and lacking a drop of joy. I have been like Hannah praying for a son at the temple: “Hannah was very troubled. She prayed to the Lord and cried with sorrow” (1 Samuel 1:10). My grievances centered around a lack of fulfillment in my job. I would come home from work tired and stressed. I felt unappreciated and overwhelmed at tasks before me. I could not see the purpose of why God had me where I was. Continue reading “Prayer that Changes You”
To be honest, I’ve never followed a presidential campaign closely before. Four years ago, when I had my first opportunity to cast a vote for president, I just followed my parents’ voting pattern. When it rolled around this time, I was actually excited to watch the candidates, research their positions, and make a difference with my vote.
Now, the presidential race just makes me nauseous. The amount of vicious articles, venomous posts, and spiteful memes posted on social media makes this race seem more like a circus than a democratic election cycle. And while it doesn’t surprise me when my lost friends post articles and write statuses that follow their worldview, it does surprise me when people who claim to know Christ are posting hateful and negative articles and comments. While I have some strong opinions about policies and positions because of my Christian faith, it sickens me to see other self-identified believes spewing bitter words in the name of Christ. Continue reading “A Prayer for Presidential Candidates”
Hi, my name is Bethany, and I am a recovering perfectionist.
I love when everything in my life works out perfectly as I intended. I love it when my house, my marriage, my work, my social life, everything is perfect order because it’s safe. It’s easy.
And perfection thrives routine. I love having everything lined up in my planner and knowing what to expect when. I love when to-do lists and events fit nicely in my schedule. And I love knowing that every day will go perfectly according to my plan. I love routine.
I’ve found that being a “perfect” Christian is easy during routine. Bible study and prayer fit right into a routine. Church falls into schedule, and I start looking around and thinking I finally have this thing down. Continue reading “A Prayer for the Perfectionist”
This past week, I turned in my last school assignment and ended my graduate assistantship. In two days, I will graduate with my master’s degree, and two days after that I will start my first job. If you missed it, that’s a lot of change. And it’s not that I don’t like change; I love trying new things and gaining different experiences. What I hate is all the unknown. What will my new coworkers be like? Will I be good at my new job? Will I survive the 40-hour work schedule? Continue reading “A Prayer for The Future”
The Importance of Spiritual Memorials in Your Life
I remember when my grandmother taught me how to prayer journal. It was nothing fancy or complicated, but through her spiritual discipline, she taught me the importance of recording the requests I plead before God. She has notebooks upon notebooks filled with intercessions on behalf of herself and her family and friends. And in the margins, she has recorded God’s answers to those prayers. And each notebook, each line, serves as a memorial of God’s grace, faithfulness, and sovereignty. Continue reading “Why Keep a Prayer Journal?”
Every month or so I’ll read another blog post that gives wives a list of ways she can pray for her husband. Many of these are very good resources, and I eagerly begin to add them to my prayer journal. But I recently realized that, though I had good intentions, my heart was not always in the right place when I would pray through these lists. Continue reading “How not to pray for your husband”
My mornings are predictable. I roll out of bed, grab a cup of coffee, and wait for my brain to wake up as I scroll through my iPhone. After perusing social media, I open the Associated Press news app. I like to know what’s going on in the world, and the AP app gives you a quick glimpse of the news, both good and bad. Continue reading “3 Ways to Pray When You Read the News”
Orange floaties twice the size of their arm. Goggles that almost cover their entire face. Slightly burned pink legs—trembling as they stand at the edge of the deep end.
