Devotionals
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Monday Meditations #5 – Your Situational Comedy
[Guest Post by Lindsay Morelli] – I love watching situational comedy on TV. Not because of the great writing, or the relatable characters, or the not-so-relatable characters, but because for 22 minutes I am reminded that it’s entirely normal for our lives to become comical chaos. Each Monday morning the world wakes up to a brand new week; another chance at fulfilling our purpose in life and hopefully avoid any conflict or obstacle that comes our way. If you are smiling after that last sentence, you know that the perfect week is a rare occurrence. You have a great week at work, but your toilet overflowed and flooded your bathroom.…
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I Survived My 20s – Grief
[Guest Post by James Prescott] – This is the story of my grief. It was 7.30am on Saturday, April 29, 2000. I was 23 years old. My mobile phone rang. For some reason I had left it on overnight, which I never normally do. I picked up the phone. It was my Dad. I said hello, and he simply replied: “Your Mother’s passed away.” I was in shock. Mum had suffered with asthma for many years so it wasn’t a total surprise. But when someone you love encounters death that often and survives, you begin to think they’re invincible. I had begun to joke my Mum, aged 52 at the…
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Monday Meditations #4 – Ungrateful
[Guest Post by Ashley] – The past couple weeks I have found myself very down and ungrateful. Trying to keep it together on the outside but ready to burst into tears on the inside at any given moment. I moved to Nashville 4 years ago. When I moved here I didn’t see myself working a Monday – Friday 8-4 job. I wanted to do music. Isn’t that why everyone comes to Nashville? Not only that I thought that by now, by 29 I would be married, have a house, maybe talking about a family.. like I see so many of my friends doing… Neither of those things have happened and…
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I Survived My 20s – Christian Woman
[Guest Post by Nicole Unice] – At 25, I was the stereotypical Christian woman. I was what most every Christian woman on the internet seems to want out of her life. I was in ministry. I was married. And I was pregnant. I had it all–every single thing that any good girl would want. But it wasn’t what I wanted. I was more of a ladder climber than a baby holder. I was more office, less kitchen. And because of that, young womanhood and young motherhood became a lesson in survival, a series of days and weeks and months where I fought a deep sense that I should be grateful to…
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Monday Meditations #3 – Moving Forward
[Guest Post by Tyler Braun ] – Before I ever had a GPS navigational unit in my car or on my phone, I made sure to carefully plot out driving directions before moving forward. You remember the drill right? Pull out a map and a piece of paper. Look up the shortest right and then begin jotting down all the different turns. Some people love the adventure of trying to find a specific location without directions, but I’m not one of them. I’m the same way when it comes to camping. Why do we take our comfortable lives and transplant them into a forest? It’s inevitable something will go wrong…
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Monday Meditations #2 – Carrying On The Work
[Guest Post by Marc Fisher] – “Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died” (Exodus 1:6). Yes a generation was now gone but God’s work was not yet complete. His promise was not fulfilled so there was still work to be done. Joseph had continued the work which his father Jacob had picked up after Issac which was built on the foundation laid by Abraham. John Wesley’s once said, ‘God buries the workmen and carries on the work.’ We must understand in whatever work God has given us that it is not for nothing if it is a part of the mighty whole. It is a great…
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Monday Meditations #1 – 24 Bible Verses
My Favorite 24 Bible Verses. Write them down and memorize for times of need, comfort, and encouragement. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT). “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NLT). “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence.…
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I Survived My 20s – Change
[Guest Post by Tracy] – I tried to stifle the tears as I watched my parents drive off. What had I done? I graduated from college and secured my first job; that’s what. Earlier that week I said my goodbyes, loaded the car, and moved across state lines to New Mexico, the “Land of Enchantment.” Gone was the familiar sound of my parents’ voices. Gone were the opportunities to hang out with friends who knew my intimate details. It was just my mini cactus, “Larry,” and me now. We would face the change in my new life together. Ironically, my first year in the “Land of Enchantment”… sucked. Even Larry…
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I Survived My 20s – Failure
[Guest post by Allison Vesterfelt] -I only have one year left of my twenties. It’s been a crazy, wild, ride, and it’s going to be over really soon. I have mixed feelings about that. Part of me is bummed to get old. You know wrinkles, slowed metabolism, an inability to operate basic electronic equipment, that sort of thing. But part of me is excited to kiss my twenties goodbye and say hello to my thirties. People say the thirties are your best years and, let’s be honest, my twenties have been fun, but it hasn’t been all that pretty at times. When I look back over the last almost-decade of…
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I Survived My 20s – Idols
[Guest Post by Kimberly Davidson Campbell] – Although I enjoyed my 20s–and now definitely enjoy my 30s more–there was one problem: where I found my identity. Idols. The biggest heart struggle I had was not just about being single, but pleasing men. Not in the “dress cute so someone will ask you out” men pleasing way; but in something that was for me much more dangerous to my walk with God. I thought if I could be involved enough, cool enough, and popular enough, pretty enough, stylish enough, smart enough, relevant enough–someone would give me my dream ministry position on staff at a church. There was one church in particular…
