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Start Small

January 14, 2013

“I want to encourage you to simply believe in your own possibilities and stay the course as you pursue them! I’m amazed at how often we stand in awe of the accomplishments of others, as though we cannot achieve similar things. If you find yourself doing this, I encourage you to stop looking at what everyone else has accomplished and begin appreciating your own talents, experiences, abilities, and potential.”
 
Excerpted from Why Not You? by Valorie Burton

Daily Reflection: How can you put your talents, past experiences, abilities, and potential to use today to pursue a personal goal?

SNEAK PEEK: Get Lost by Dannah Gresh

January 11, 2013

Discover how to get so lost in God that a guy has to seek Him to find you.

Click here to download chapter one of Get Lost.

Have you ever ditched a friend for a guy? Filled your journal with more thoughts about guys than God? Found yourself jealous because that other girl gets all the dates? Maybe it’s time to get lost—in God. Dannah Gresh traces God’s language of love through Scripture to help you pursue your heart’s deepest desires and seek love the way God designed it to be. Because once you identify your true longings and let God answer them, you’ll know just how to respond when romantic love comes along.

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A Bond Forged in Prayer

January 11, 2013

“A great mental picture of bonding may be to envision two objects glued together. When issues of life feel overwhelming, a healthy bonding between husband and wife, as Allen and Eileen demonstrate, can carry us through those times: ‘Prayer is definitely a key factor in growing close to each other. It allows you to reveal your heart to the Lord. It is an outpouring. It allows you to share the burdens of life with each other.’

After a long morning of intense communication, I’ll often climb onto Craig’s lap as he sits on our oversized recliner, lay my head against his chest, take a deep breath…and rest my worries and fears before God as we seek his direction through prayer together. The bonding that I feel at those times is indescribable. It can only be God-designed.”
 
Excerpted [ … ]

NEWS: The Girl in the Glass Featured As a Top Pick on USA Today’s HEA Blog

January 10, 2013

Susan Meissner’s The Girl in the Glass was featured on USA Today’s Happily Ever After blog as a top pick for 2012. Go here to see the full list and here to read the review. Says reviewer Serena Chase, “Without a doubt, The Girl in the Glass has earned a permanent place on my keeper shelf.”

Our Living Faith

January 10, 2013

“When things don’t go our way, when our happiness is threatened, when God isn’t giving us what we want, when we don’t think our needs are being met, there is a great temptation to take the easy way out, to turn back to our old ways, to yield to our flesh, or to give up in discouragement.

This is the feeling the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews were experiencing. They didn’t understand that the trials they were enduring were part of God’s discipline. And so in the eleventh chapter of his word of exhortation, the author of Hebrews reminded them of their need of faith. He spoke to the fact that things are not over, that the drama of redemption has not yet come to an end. He encouraged them to remember that if they wanted God’s [ … ]

Resolve to Love

January 9, 2013

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Resolve to Love by Kerry and Chris Shook

Right now, there are three relationships in your life that trouble you. Perhaps a good friend said something to you yesterday. It felt critical, but you’re not sure what she meant. The two of you used to be so close, but lately you’ve been drifting apart. Something’s not right. Oh, and your mother called. There’s that. You know you should [ … ]

SNEAK PEEK: Though My Heart Is Torn by Joanne Bischof

January 9, 2013

Gideon O’Riley has two wives—but he doesn’t know it.

Click here to download chapter one of Though My Heart Is Torn.

Settling into a simple life in the majestic Blue Ridge mountains, Lonnie and Gideon O’Riley have finally found happiness after the rocky start to their marriage. The roguish bluegrass musician has fallen in love with his gentle wife and the God she serves, and Lonnie rests secure in his tenderness for her and their young son. A heartless ruse interupts their peace, bringing them back to Rocky Knob—and forces them to face the claims of Cassie Allan, a woman who says she is Gideon’s rightful wife.

Click here to download chapter [ … ]

Children Believing

January 9, 2013

Children believe. Without the skepticism and doubts that adults carry wherever they go, children simply believe. Tell a child that God answers prayer, and he or she will put your words to the test, often with remarkable results.

As I was preparing this book, the kids’ stories reminded me of a valuable lesson. Children are very specific when they pray. If their family is short two hundred dollars on their mortgage payment, they don’t ask God to “meet their needs” or “provide for their family.” Instead, they ask God to send them two hundred dollars.

I’m reminded of four-year-old Dana, the daughter of a writer-friend, who prayed, “Dear Jesus, help us not to eat slugs.” Now that’s praying specifically.

My prayers, on the other hand, are often too general. I pray for my children, but not with concreteness. I pray [ … ]

Always Beside Us

January 9, 2013

“I turned the question over in my mind while looking at the clouds drifting by that day. If God is for us, who can be against us? In the first part of the question, the ‘if’ isn’t really casting any doubt. It is in fact assuming the truth of what it states. God is for us! He’s for us. Looking at it another way, He’s for us!

The God who created the sky, the trees, the landscape, the clouds—that God. The God who created the universe—that God. The God who is spinning our planet on its axis right now at a thousand miles an hour, ensuring that we travel 1.3 million miles today in our orbit around the sun—that God. The God who has the expanse of the universe in the palm of His hand. The God who created [ … ]

Empower Yourself to Forgive

January 8, 2013

“I’ve […] learned that though we can’t manipulate forgiveness, we can work toward it. How? By admitting and feeling our pain while asking God to help us forgive. God offers us the gift of forgiveness. We need to open our hearts and receive it. But because we have been hurt so severely, we often don’t activate forgiveness in our relationships. Instead, we close up to protect ourselves, and we can’t receive the gift even when it’s in front of our faces. This is true whether the gift is receiving forgiveness or offering forgiveness.

The key to a lifestyle of forgiveness, I’ve found, is first making the commitment to love our world. We can walk in forgiveness toward others and ourselves only if we’ve first committed to love. Unforgiveness blocks our ability to love; we will be motivated to be a [ … ]