Embracing Life

• Seasoning Your Life with Grace and Truth

  

  In John 8 we meet a woman. We don’t know her name or much about her at all, except for her sin. She was caught in adultery, and religious leaders (and probably a crowd interested in seeing a woman st...

• 15 Scriptures To Pray For Your Special Needs Child

  

  As a special needs parent we learn to advocate for our children--with insurance companies, with doctors and specialists, with schools, within churches, and within the community. But one of the best w...

• What Charles Dickens Teaches Us About Disability in His Christmas Novellas

  

  Every December, my 7th grade students read A Christmas Carol . It's one of my favorite books I teach, there’s so much to learn and discuss and analyze from that book. This past weekend I decided to s...

• 25 Scriptures to Pray to Prepare Your Heart for Christmas

  

  Christmas is always a busy time of year. There’s decorations to put up, gifts to buy, parties to attend, memories to make. There’s pressure to have Pinterest perfect decor and the best Christmas expe...

• The Four Stages of Writing Through Grief

  

  Whether we want it to or not, we all will go through hard things in life. Grief will come in some form or another, whether it be the loss of a loved one, the loss of a dream or expectation or relatio...

• The Power of Praying Scripture For Your Family

  

  A few years ago, after reading Beth Moore’s book Praying God’s Word , I discovered the joy of praying scripture over various topics that were important to me, such as praying scriptures for my marria...

• Great Books Featuring Young Characters With Special Needs

  

  I am a middle school English teacher who is always reading (and recommending to my students) books I think they'll enjoy. I am also the mother of two boys who both have special needs. I am drawn ...

• How to Nurture the Fruit of the Spirit in Your Children

  

  I’ll admit, it is easy to focus our time and attention on our children’s personalities and development and behaviors and skills and busy schedules and overlook the fact that we should be teaching and...

• 25 Scriptures to Pray When You're Struggling with Anxiety

  

  I am not a stranger to anxiety. I was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety and put on medication after my second son was born. Before that anxiety seemed to be fully managed, I found myself struggling w...

• Embracing Joy No Matter What Our Circumstances Look Like

  

  I met Adria Wilkins last year at a local writing event. My first impression of her was that she was a smiley, joyful person. She radiates joy. We connected over the fact we were both writers AND that...

• Embracing Your Unique Way Of Worshipping God

  

  Worship is the feeling or expression of adoring God. We use the word worship to talk about the music portion of a church service, but it really is so much more than that. It is any way of expressing ...

• 20 Scriptures To Pray For Your Purpose

  

  We all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We all want to know what our purpose is while we are on earth, hence the reason The Purpose-Driven Life quickly became a bestselling book wi...

• The Power of Praying Scripture as a Special Needs Parent

  

  My younger son has a speech delay, my older son a neurological-based speech disorder called apraxia that requires frequent and intensive speech therapy to learn to speak. He didn’t say his first word...

• Embracing This Special Life

  

  There is a unique struggle to keep your faith in God's goodness and His plan while juggling the appointments, stress, grief, and loneliness that accompany the special needs parenting journey. J...

• When You Find Yourself Asking God "Why?"

  

  When something unexpected happens in our life, or in our world, it's easy for us to ask God why it happened. We want to live the blessed "abundant life" (John 10:10b) that Jesus said He was bringing,...

• When You Find Yourself Asking God "Don't You Care?"

  

  Have you ever felt let down by God, because something in life didn't go the way you planned? Have you ever wondered if God really cares because He seems very silent or distant to your current strug...

• How Journaling Can Help Your Faith and Emotions

  

  When life takes an unexpected turn, or we are stressed and busy, it is easy to go into survival mode and bury our emotions. We keep pressing on, doing the things we know we are supposed to be doing a...

• What God Wants Us To Experience From Nature

  

  I met up with a friend from college recently and we decided to spend the afternoon at a lake. We enjoyed dipping our toes into the cold water. Walking barefoot on the rocky sand. Feeling the sun on o...

• 15 Scriptures to Pray For Our Nation

  

  My heart lately has been burdened by events and attitudes I see unfolding around me in the United States. We aren't united. We are divided by political parties and beliefs. People's rights seem to be...

• Podcasts That Provide Hope For Special Needs Parents

  

  I love listening to podcasts. I just find them encouraging to listen to topics I'm interested in and want to grow in while I'm on the road, going for a walk, or folding the laundry. I've recently dis...