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I don’t know who I’d be without my faith. It’s the “something” behind everything in my life – the thing that sustains me and keeps me going. While BTD has become a brand in and of itself, it is still in many ways a very personal space for me to share who I am. And since my faith is such a large part of that, it’s only natural that I’d talk about it. In the BTD “Faith” Category, you’ll find posts about faith-based books, podcast recommendations, and plenty of discussions about the things God is stirring in my heart.
My brain feels constantly overloaded, so the thought of memorizing anything feels impossible to me on most day! Anyone else feel that way? Even though it feels challenging, I know it’s important. Especially as I have shared with you guys about my desire to grow in prayer and using scripture to pray. What better way to pray scripture than memorizing it? But back to the fact that it feels hard.…
I think we have all had those times when we feel like we are praying and asking God for something and it feels like radio silence on the other end. Some prayers are things I can afford to wait on, but some prayers feel more desperately urgent and waiting on an answer for longer than a day or a week feels like torture. I figure I’m not alone in this,…
There have been so many times I’ve sat down to spend time with God in prayer – and my mind just seems to go blank. Other times I feel like a broken record, bringing the same things over and over before God. One day, I was reading a verse out of Psalm 119 that said His word is a “lamp for our feet, a light on our path.” In that…
I think we can agree or have at one point felt like praying is hard. It’s one thing to pray when you’re desperate or don’t have any other place to turn, but it’s another thing to pray because you can’t imagine a day without it. I don’t know about you, but I want the latter. And so it’s been my focus to really invest in my prayer life this year and…
Prayer is something I really want to focus on this year. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve never really been super intentional about my prayer life – or at least not consistently. I mean, I make an effort to pray. And I do my daily quiet times, but I haven’t really spent time consistently pursuing a prayer discipline. Personally, I’m more comfortable journaling or studying or doing something more active…
Sometimes when I read the Bible and/or readings about what the Christian life should look like and how we’ve been called to live, I feel downright disheartened by my life. Often, it seems like the Bible’s “ask” is too big or aspirational for me to even attain – way too idealistic to actually live out. I sure would love to live my life like the Apostle Paul or the Bible’s…
A few months ago, I got a DM from a reader asking me this very question: “What are some ways I can be on mission when I’m not in ministry?” The question stopped me in my tracks. What a thought-provoking but also very real question. It was such a humbling question and one I really wanted to spend time thinking about before sending back some off-the-cusp or canned answer. It…
I’ve always wanted to read the entire Bible – from cover-to-cover. Emphasis on the *always wanted.* If I’m being honest though, it’s not something I ever thought I could actually, realistically accomplish. You know how that is, right? I sort of halfway committed a few times. I got through Genesis each time – easily. But when I would get toward the end of Exodus and into books like Numbers and…
In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul talks a lot about giftedness in chapter 12. He explains that our gifts need to be different because all together, we make up the body of Christ. For a body to work, you need one head, two ears, one nose, two arms… you get the picture. If a body has no arms, six noses, and one ear, something’s not right. The same thing goes for the body of believers in Christ—there have to be different parts in order to make it function correctly.
For a lot of us, the coming of Easter means all good things. Warmer weather, spring clothes, pastels, sunshine, bunnies, and egg hunts are the things that we think of most if we’re really being honest. And we know what Easter is really all about: Jesus. It’s the day that Jesus arose from the dead and redeemed us all from our sins. And YES, Easter is a really, really happy day.
At some point or another, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all wondering how to pray – if we’re doing it right or wrong or even where to begin? Sometimes thinking about praying to an invisible God that we can’t *actually* talk to feels a little weird and we get a bit insecure. Or at least I know I do – and I consider myself a seasoned “prayer…
While I was praying this morning, I spent some time giving some really hard, intense thought about how I’m spending my time. What IS the most important thing I can be doing? How DO I need to be prioritizing my life? The reason why I get so serious about this stuff is because I seriously want to be living in a way that glorifies God.
One of my MOST frequently asked questions is what the best small group bible studies are or whether or not I recommend any. And after getting this question time and time again, I decided it was time I dedicate an entire resource page on my blog to answering this question. I intend to keep this updated as I learn more and discover additional studies.
In Philippians 4:11, Paul talks about contentment; he says he has learned how to be content in all circumstances. It’s kind of funny if you read it; in typical Paul fashion, he says it super matter-of-fact. But I don’t think he means it’s the easiest thing to do. I think this is something he had to fight for every day. (Remember this is a single dude, who had sacrificed marriage and embraced singleness for the good of his gospel work. Before his death he will be shipwrecked, separated from friends, and imprisoned multiple times.)
If you could only pray for ONE thing right now, what would it be? We all have SOMETHING. Come on, be honest with yourself. What’s the one thing you feel is missing from your life and if you just had “x”, THEN your life would be “better”. Maybe it’s a baby or to lose 10 pounds; meet new girlfriends or get promoted at work. Or maybe it’s a new career entirely or to finally meet the partner of your dreams... Or you just wish you could find (or afford) a nice house for you and/or your family. Whatever it is, we all have a prayer or something we really wish God would just GIVE us or DO for us because we *think* the other side of whatever that thing is will be better. And maybe it will be. Wanting these things isn’t a bad thing - many of our desires are God-given.
Here’s the run-down on this sermon: It’s all about understanding and overcoming anxiety and worry in our lives. This is a really important topic for me because I’m for sure a worrier! I love this sermon because it explains the issues in depth, but is also super practical.
Let’s talk about how to follow Jesus. But not all at once. That’s a big topic! But I want to at least START the conversation with you by sharing parts of my story. Because we could talk about different aspects of what it means to follow Jesus all day long. But in general, I would like to start talking about what following Jesus looks like in my life on a more…
Every once and while I listen to a podcast or read scripture that gets me SO. FIRED. UP. about eternity in Heaven. I mean I know I should be fired up about this all the time, but the truth is…I get distracted. I mean, come on. But this is one of those podcasts. If you are going through a struggle – big or small – you’ve got to listen to…
