Blog
Are You Listening, God?
Is God listening to us when He doesn’t answer our prayers like we want? Many times we talk to God by what we are calling prayer. However, here’s what we do. We tell God what we want Him to do. When it doesn’t happen like we want it to happen, we wonder if He is really...
Fear and Trust
How do we know if we really trust Jesus or not? He’s the member of the Trinity who is most like us because He knows what it’s like to live as a human. If we have a trust issue with Jesus, it will affect our relationship with those we love. Several years ago, I felt...
Forty-six and Counting
It’s Easter Sunday morning. I am lying curled up next to my husband, his arm around me. These are the type of mornings I ache to be writing. Writing is my drug, as they say. These days, though, lying next to my husband is better than any drug. Perhaps he is my drug of...
From Disappointment to Hope
What disappoints you? Is it yourself? Is it circumstances you think you shouldn’t have to go through? Is what you think God should have done for you think He didn’t? Is it other people giving up on fulfilling their potential? When it comes to our personal failures and...
What Can I Do When I Am Discouraged?
King David asked God a question I’ve asked myself many times. “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!” (Psalms 42:11 NLT). That’s what we should do, but many times we don’t. The word...
How Can I Stop Being Bitter?
Is there something someone has done to you or some circumstance that has happened where you felt wronged and you feel you can’t do anything about it? Do you constantly think about it? Do you go to bed ruminating about it, get up with it, and carry it with you all day...
The Place That Grace Built
Shades of blacks and whites Long black angry shadows Hiding fears, mistrusts, and shame And white as far as the eye can see. Nothingness. I wear my despair in monotone. No cure for my sickness. No help to pull me out of lifelessness. No desire to climb to freedom....
My Strong Word for 2023
My strong word for 2023 is strong. When God gave me that word, I began questioning what part of that word He wanted me to focus on. Most of us think of physical strength when we hear the word strong but that wasn’t what He was talking about. Kalan Chaloupek, Battle of...
My Story Was Way Too Sweet
I’m reminded today that 10 years ago God tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to write my first book, my weight loss memoir. I’d been on a transformation journey, being thrilled about losing the next pound, and getting down to the next size. I hadn’t calculated how...
She Was Lonely
“I just want to be me,” she said to no one and everyone. She was tired of doing the same thing every single day and no one noticed. She had a family, but her husband was on the road and her kids were grown. One was working in a different state, and one was in college...