Broken Heart and Crushed Spirit? Read Here

September 18, 2018 by Kristi 2 Comments

Broken Heart and Crushed Spirit? Read Here.

This week’s memory verse offers such powerful encouragement.

Have you noticed?

Humility stands center, swirling around the heart and spirit.

At times, our walk with God leans toward a complied list of accomplishments and acclamations. A maturing faith, however, woos us to a deeper place of faith. It takes us on a journey with a Father who stands near the broken hearted, a God who saves those of crushed spirit. It takes us to the deep.

Offended?

Offense is one of those spirits often clawing at our relationship with the Lord.

Maybe it’s a friend or family member who steps on our toes. Perhaps a hurtful conversation happened at work or even within the walls of church. Our loving Father comes to our rescue when offense enters the battle. Here’s a helpful piece for the fight. Click here for a guest piece at Living Our Priorities called Offended? Find Freedom With These 3 Safe & Solid Suggestions.

And while you’re there, browse their sight. The husband and wife team at Living Our Priorities offer fantastic faith encouragement and tools.

Are You A Writer?

Here’s encouragement to combat confusion at The Write Life with Tracy Crump and Marylane Wade Koch.

Be encouraged, and enjoy memorizing Psalm 34:18 this week, friends.

When My Greatest Fear Came True

September 11, 2018 by Kristi 6 Comments

A Quick Reminder…
The Journey Together Summit starts TODAY! It’s FREE (so why not, right?) and is packed FULL of encouragement for strong women of faith like you. Make certain to sign up here.

Live interviews will be available for free for 24 hours. Won’t work for your schedule? Simply upgrade to have them available longer. 😉 (* affiliate)

Written on July 19, 2018

My head hurts today. Perhaps my body protests the chocolate I devoured yesterday. (I love chocolate–like LOVE it. Sadly, it refuses to love me.)

But it might be the tears I shed this morning concerning our puppy.

Ellie, our 8 week-old rescue, Collie-mix of some sort, ran around the house like normal yesterday–until 5:30 PM. That’s when her breakfast, lunch, and dinner projectiled all over our rug.

And again. And again. And again.

We taxiied her, the cute girl on the bottom of the picture above, to the emergency vet last night. We walked out with a hydrated puppy, assurance it was not parvo, but no real answer as to what battle brewed inside our pup. This morning, Ellie turned her head from food, refused to move out her crate, yelped when we tried to move her, and urinated on herself.

Hello downhill slope.

I cried.

Meanwhile, thoughts of my greatest fear concerning Ellie taunted and teased.

Just 5 months earlier we battled sickness with our sweet Bailey.

With steroids and antibiotics pulsing through her body, she appeared to be perking back to life.

But fear danced within me.

“What if?” tumbled inside. What if the meds simply offered false hope? What if she showed signs of healing, only to slide down the slope once again, skidding straight to death’s door?

What if?

Just six months prior, we lost Dixie, our 12 yr. old beagle/Jack Russell mix. We cried.

We thought we’d have 5 or 6 more years with Bailey, a black and white stray (top in the picture above) who found us in Oklahoma. After all, her age ran young in dog years.

Bailey gathered tidbits of strength, but then she began sliding down that darned slippery slope.

Again.

Just as I feared.

She’s now buried on family property.

With Bailey’s death and a quiet, dogless house, I stood at a fork in the road: Would I trust God amid my fear coming true?

In 2015 I faced fear with my father’s death. (Read more here.)

Soon after a slew of events assailed. (Read more here.)

Facing death, whether it centers on a person or furry friend, shoots fireworks of fear in many of us. So do a series of circumstances that send us circling.

Many of us are facing a fork in the road, albeit a small or big crisis of faith.

A marriage torn apart even though we stood adamant against divorce
A partner dying far too young
A child leaving their faith on the doorstep when they left our nest
Feelings of “not being enough”
That work promotion landing on a co-worker’s desk instead of ours
People failing us
Financial security crumbling
Health declining

When we fear and it comes to pass, on whom will we lean?

Where will we set our trust?

God offers collective wisdom for the choice.

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart,
and don’t lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Prov. 3:5-6 WEB

Setting trust at His feet–in His love–never fails us.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment.

1 John 4:18a WEB

The perfect love of our Father stands trustworthy. He holds out His hand to you and me, even when…

Situations make little sense (Joseph, Ruth)
Others have hurt us or let us down (woman caught in adultery)
Death looms (Jesus, Stephen)

Today, if you’re facing your greatest fear, where will you set your trust?

Ellie update:

As pathetic as she looked and acted, our sweet Ellie is romping and running, praise the Lord, around the yard and house today. (Technically, she’s sleeping in her crate at the moment, but she was digging in the cantelope patch earlier. She loves cantaloupe but pees like a fire hydrant afterward.) She healed nicely and is a healthy pup. The local vet kindly offered to see her early the next day. They diagnosed her with a urinary tract infection. Meds worked wonders. God too. 😉

9/11

For those of us in the US, this day marks a sober anniversary. I sat pregnant with my daughter, watching the turmoil unfold on the television that day. The military claimed rights to my husband, and we lived near the area where the fighter jets scurried from in order to protect parts of DC and our nation.

I recall being afraid–a fork in the road.

May our God of all Comfort, comfort those in mourning, those clutched by fear, those continuing to hurt physically, and people battling with turmoil caused by difficult memories.

We look to You, Lord.

3 Opportunities to Help Grow Your Faith

September 6, 2018 by Kristi 8 Comments

Hi Friends,

It’s a rainy day here in Oklahoma, a welcome relief after many hot and dry days. Whew!

Sometimes our faith feels a little Oklahoma: D.R.Y. That’s when the body of Christ comes into play. People impact different parts of our faith walk, encouraging us in the journey. Below are 3 women/groups with not-to-miss encouragement.

Here are 3 Opportunities to Help Grow Your Faith:

1. Wholly Loved Ministries

Are you a woman interested in discovering, embracing, and living out who you are in Christ? If so, take a peek at Wholly Loved Ministries.

I’ve recently stepped on board with this ministry, contributing to their online devotionals and an upcoming project. (More on that later.) But the online devotional is not all they offer. Wholly Loved also holds conferences and encourages women like us through other faith-building tools. So go ahead, take a peek at what Wholly Loved Ministries has to offer. And while visiting, don’t forget to subscribe to receive their blog posts!

2. The Journey Together Summit

I’m delighted to invite you to a FREE online event – The Journey Together Summit! Join 34+ highly-loved author experts (many are bestselling authors) as they open up their heart to share transparent stories, life-changing biblical truths, and wise insights on being Battle Ready. The event goes live Tuesday, Sept 11-Friday, Sept. 14, but it is viewable even beyond these dates.

Sign up here today!

Learn from experts, how to stand firm and faithful when the worst of trials hit. Whether you’re struggling with finances, your marriage, grief, uncertainty, doubt, discouragement or despair -the topics go on and on…

At this event, you will:

Gain practical and biblical tips to break the power of uncertainty, doubt and worry in your life.
See past the mountains before you to the heights of your victorious God.
Come to believe God really can do exceedingly abundantly more than you can ever ask or imagine as you trust Him.

All the General Sessions (40+ videos) are FREE. Beyond this, you can upgrade your pass to the Practical Application sessions if you want to dive deeper on a subject, get practical wisdom on how to proceed or if you want to watch the videos over the next year.

See the agenda here.

What are you waiting for? Grab your FREE ticket today. And, if you can’t attend Sept. 11-14, they’ve got you covered. Get the All Access Pass and you’ll be able to watch the videos post-event.

*affiliate link ~ New! Privacy/Terms and Conditions page has been updated to add Affiliates, friends.

3. Wildfire Faith Coaching

Have you ever soaked in the wise words of Lyli Dunbar? I love her! This bold woman of God writes faith-building encouragement. It pops up in various places: blogs, app devos and more. She’s a teacher by trade and is now combining her love of teaching and faith in a coaching opportunity to come alongside us as we grow in faith. Find out more about Wildfire Faith by visiting Lyli’s website or this fb launch video from last week. 🙂

These are just 3 opportunities to help grow your faith from women I know personally and trust. How about you? What opportunities have been vital in your spiritual growth? Comment below.

Kristi Woods