An Unexpected Journey

I am so excited for you to hear from my dear friend, Katie.  We met when she was a sassy, teenage check out girl in Harvey's grocery store in Cairo, Ga and I was a newlywed who didn't know how to cook and actually went back to the store like 3 or 4 times in one night because I kept forgetting things!  She made a joke and we both laughed!  Little did I know a few years later, she would come on staff at our church, and we would become fast friends.  She loves Jesus and has been a friend through thick and thin... The Lie: I can do everything. It’s almost midnight and there I am standing in my kitchen, covered in flour (me and the kitchen) as I’m trying to squeeze out the last of the cookies for my kid’s holiday celebrations at school. I’m exhausted. I’ve hurriedly put my kids to bed that night so that I can move onto this “important” task of baking them cookies to show I love them. I’ve snapped at my husband at least 5 times. I will drag myself to bed in another hou...

Our guest blogger today is someone I am soooo thankful God brought into my life!  She has earned her doctorate, birthed four littles, and juggles work, babies, and life with such grace!  And the best part is she is married to my brother so I get to call her family and a dear friend!  She opens up today in the hope that you, too, will see that perhaps God is calling you step outside of your own comfort zone and embrace the life he has for you more fully... This is Just The Way I Am (and How I Recognized This Lie) Have you ever felt uneasy in life? Like disgruntled about where you are yet unable to pinpoint the issue, much less to change? Maybe you’ve had a feeling that something is off but don’t know why or how? Yeah. Me too. And it started with my bubble… I like my bubble. It’s my safe place. Dare I say, my “personal space,” which is really another way of saying: “I don’t do touch. Stay back.” It’s been this way ever since I can remember. This was my way of keepi...

This week we are hearing from one of my favorite people on the planet!  She is my confidant, my encourager, the one I can always count on to be there... my mom, Jeanie.  She shares how God speaks to us through the little things and how we can see Him in our circumstances if we will look... Several years ago the Lord begin to reveal to me the lies of the enemy that I had bought into – the triggers that the enemy of my soul uses on me, sadly, over and over. One of the big ones is an overwhelming sense of inadequacy. “I’m not enough.” And it can be all encompassing: not a good enough Christian, not a good enough wife, not a good enough mother or mother-in-law, not a good enough grandmother, not a good enough friend, not a good enough hostess and cook! I could go on and on. In talking with other women, I have learned that I am not alone in that struggle, and actually, I think many men also deal with that issue in certain areas of their lives. We live in a very performance-bas...

This week one of my dearest friends has opened up about a struggle she faced this fall... and in this season of life.  My friend Avril is an amazing lady who juggles work, family, a demanding job, and a doctoral program while keeping her beautiful smile in tact.  I truly don't know how she does it all! I hope as she opens up her heart this week that you will see a bit if your own struggles and hear God's encouraging whisper  calling you deeper... “Mommy, I want to join the swim team” Eight words that may seem pretty benign. Eight words that for any other parent may have brought joy or a sense of pride that their child was seeking a new adventure. Not me. I froze at the sound of those eight words. Why? Because I knew it just wasn’t just a question; it was a test. You see, last year, when Olivia, our 16-year-old, asked me that very same question, I immediately dismissed the idea. I convinced myself she didn’t have the skills for competitive swimming so why bother. At ...