Faith
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Christmas Letters to God part III
Dear God, This Christmas still looks different than I thought it would, Lord, and I’m bringing that to You. I lay it at your feet. There isn’t quick healing here. Just soreness that lingers, memories that surface without warning, and a heart still learning how to rest and forgive myself. I’m not asking You to fix this right now. I just need You here. As my daughter says when she needs a cuddle: “just be with me!” I know You didn’t come into a perfect world. You came into a broken one. Into uncertainty. Into vulnerability. Into the middle of things. Not a magical setting, like the Christmas I imagined. You…
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Diva Christmas 2025 is Still NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
God- Why, God? Why? This wasn’t the devotional I wanted to write next, you know. I was supposed to be on an upward incline and write about how Christmas is messy AND magical. Wasn’t I? It’s Christmas and we’ve already been through so much this year. Not even just this year, but the last three months have felt like hell. I’ve leaned on you immensely. I’ve literally been brought to my knees. Broken bones, multiple broken pipes, emotionally broken children…everything breaks on deployment they say, and Murphy’s Law sure didn’t take long with us. So why, God, why give us more? A car crash?! A SERIOUS car crash. A totaled…
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An Empty Easter (Renee Returns!)
Editor’s Note: An Empty Easter is Founder Renee Fisher’s return! Thank you Renee for this guest post! Remember, Divas, submissions are open INDEFINITELY 🙂 “Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life…and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’” 1 Kings 19:3-4 ESV Elijah didn’t have the strength or the patience to continue. He thought his life was over. So he ran to an empty cave and asked God to die. “God has a different read on the whole situation.…
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What Easter Means to Me
“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:15-16 I love a low-key Easter. I’m all about spending the day at home, opening baskets, doing an egg hunt indoors right away, and tuning into a service on livestream…in pajamas. Maybe we’ll have quick cinnamon rolls or monkey bread — when I was little my mom always made us little sausages for breakfast on Easter. We’ll get dressed eventually, and play with our new Easter stuff. Maybe get the kids dressed up cute for…
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After Death Comes Life
I launched Devotional Diva as a single person in 2009 under the name Renee Johnson. It was my dream to use that platform to get noticed and become a published author. God knew. A few months later, NavPress signed me for my first book, Faithbook of Jesus, a 365-daily devotional. It released one year later while the ink was drying on the trademark I purchased for Devotional Diva. Talk about a whirlwind. I experienced tremendous growth as an author those first few years as well as personal. My first book sold so well that NavPress signed me for another book. Then the economy tanked. It was a God-sized miracle that Harvest House signed me for…
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A Holiday Dream 4 Years in the Making
Spring 2016 It was a few weeks before my husband was leaving yet again on his Navy ship. We left our one-year-old son with friends and went on a wine-tasting trip and had so much fun. So much fun that it made me sad. I’m sorry to my more conservative Divas but I had a little too much wine, and emotions were hitting me hard. I wanted this all the time. Why did he have to be gone so much? I wondered. Why did I have to experience Italy without him? It was a lonely existence. I wanted to go home, I cried. I didn’t want to be in Italy…
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The Cold Winter Warmth
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by veteran Diva Ann Grace. This is a beautiful story and great reminder to take into the New Year! The holiday’s always seem to bring a sense of warmth in me. The day after Thanksgiving literally births some sort of fire to prepare for the Christmas season. Some of the holiday’s anticipated highlights include the endless classic Christmas movies while sipping on some yummy Mexican hot cocoa. And it has to be hot because if not, the marshmallows don’t melt as well. But this year will be different, I’m sure. Many of us are wondering if there will even be a “Christmas”? The…
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3 Ways to Get Your Christmas Joy Back – Diva Christmas 2020
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by Juliana Gordon. Welcome, Juliana! Readers, I hope if you’re feeling a funk this year, this devotional can be an encouragement! Have you ever been in a shop that sells Christmas decorations year-round? Or heard of households that left up a tree – on purpose – for most of the year? I know people like that, who live for December! They have boxes of decorations, special Christmas dishes, and even an assortment of holiday sweaters to wear throughout the season. They cannot get enough of the festive music, Christmas traditions, and holiday movies. I used to be like that. Then 20 years or…
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Mixed Emotions for Christmas – Diva Christmas 2020
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story from Brittney Smith. If you’re feeling mixed emotions for Christmas, this is the story for you! I remember when all I felt around the holiday was joy. That simplicity ended in early childhood after my parents announced their intentions to divorce in November 1997. Then, I quickly learned what dreary Christmases were like. They’re like snow on a cloudy day. The wonder of a miracle and the gloom of an overcast all at once. As time went on, my family and I experienced the loss of loved ones around the holidays as well. Seasonal depression crept in myself or those around me. When…
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A Different Christmas – Diva Christmas 2020
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by our friend here at Devotional Diva, June Titus! June has pulled out a great message this year for Christmas. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 Christmas this year may be a little different from what we are used to. With “social distancing,” limited air travel, and general disruption in our country, we may have to re-invent Christmas. Churches have no plans for the usual dramas and musical programs, and the cities have canceled their parades and iconic festivities. It’s like Christmas has been stolen from…
