Your Morning Cup of Inspiration

So often when we face challenges in our relationships, we pray that God will change the other person.  In fact, we obsess about the multitude of ways in which God should change them.  We don’t even think about asking God to change us.  After all, why should we change?  We aren’t doing anything wrong.  Everyone…

This Sunday at church, we had an awkward moment.  While giving the children’s sermon, the pastor asked the kids, “When the angel came to visit the girl, Mary, what good news did he have for her?” Listening on the altar steps were some girls who were around 12-years-old, roughly the same age as Mary would…

My husband and I recently started taking ballroom dancing classes.  Ballroom dancing isn’t like the modern dancing that you might do at a club or a wedding.  It is very structured.  There are rules, specific steps, and techniques.  And there is a leader.  One person, typically the man, leads.  When a song is played, he…

A little while ago, I was at church, and we were having communion.  After I received communion, I returned to my seat and observed the others still waiting in line.  One husband stood behind his wife and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.  A young daughter put her arms around her mother’s waist as they…

We live in a broken world.  Last week’s attacks in Beirut and Paris were a ghastly reminder of that fact.  Now, in the aftermath of these events, our politicians will make speeches, our military forces will respond, and we will…  What will we do? In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples,  “You are…

In the book of Romans 8:31-32, the Apostle Paul writes, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us…

Some of us carry a lot of stuff with us. We aren’t overloaded with actual things, but rather we are overloaded with emotional baggage.  Carrying emotional baggage is hard.  When we have too much of it, we are tense.  We are easily frustrated by both real and imagined slights.  Or perhaps we are sad, even…

Words are powerful things. When used well, they can encourage and inspire us.  Many of us have special words that we turn to when we need inspiration.  For instance, when I’ve had struggles in my life, I’ve meditated on on Psalm 23, some of the most beautiful words ever written. Meditating on positive quotes, whether…

Hardships are part of the human experience. No one goes through life without facing some difficulties.  For instance, we all at one time or another will be lonely.  Sometimes loneliness comes from not having enough social connections.  At other times loneliness may come from having to face a tough problem on our own.  We also…

This past summer, my daughter took a trip to Alaska. When she returned, she brought back a very unique gift – two packets of Alaskan wildflower seeds. The seeds were to be planted in the fall. So a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I planted them in a flower bed that we created…

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