• Faith

    My Fight with Vulnerability

    [Guest post by Kerri-Anne Lafu: Unfortunately, sharing your vulnerability with the world is a problem I think a lot of women go through. But it’s even more important to try to share it with God!] These last few months I think God has been challenging me on the need to be real, vulnerable and honest with myself, Him, and others. I, like a lot of people, have massive insecurities about showing people who I really am. Instead of loving others and being with others fully, I’ve limited who and how I’ve been based on the parts of me that I think people would accept. It was through a hard season that…

  • Devotionals

    God's Love Stories

    [Guest post by Stephanie Rawnsley: February is the month of Valentine’s Day, so I thought we would kick off the month with Stephanie’s great post about God’s love stories!] Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, ours or someone else’s, we all love a good story. Look at how many movies and books there are out there. When we go out for coffee, we exchange stories. We love hearing amazing tails of good winning over evil, of love conquering all. We love the stories that make us believe again, that make us reach for the stars and believe in the impossible. Why do you think Nicholas Sparks has been such a success? His stories of…

  • Devotionals

    Little Diva…or Divo?

    Since this is my first blog post on Devotional Diva this year, happy new year and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! But Divas, we’ve got an issue on our hands. In November, I announced my pregnancy. If you’ll recall, I said that a baby girl would be a little Diva (obviously) and I pondered aloud what we should call a baby boy. All I came up with was Divo. It was just a few days before Christmas that my husband and I were blessed to find out that we’re having a baby boy! So, I mean…is Little Divo an acceptable title? 🙂 Also on New Year’s Eve, we had a 4D…

  • Faith

    New Wineskins

    [Guest post by Ozella Morris: Welcome back, Ozella! On Tuesday, we read Jennifer’s story of waiting instead of trying to force a change. But what if the Lord knows you need a change to be closer Him?] Mark 2:22: And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins. Thank God for change! Even though it may not always fall in our favor, change is a blessing. Change brings on new areas for meaningful progress to take place, for new bonds to be made, and for old wounds to…

  • Devotionals,  Faith

    The Unexpected Joy Found in Waiting

    [Guest post by Jennifer Kelly: Happy New Year! When Jennifer sent me this post, I just knew it had to be the first Devotional Diva post of 2015! She tells us of the joy found in waiting when this New Year is such a time of change.] Wait on the Lord. This is my season right now. My limbo. My song. My thing. My line. My joy and my pain.  Why is it so hard to wait? What is it about waiting that tail-spins my impatient, stubborn self into a frenzied, spoiled three-year old brat? Honestly! I’m like THAT little girl you see in the store: arms furiously crossed, crazy-eyed, and spewing out…

  • Devotionals

    Alive Remains the Manger Scene

    [Guest post by Rebecca Lamarche: Rebecca also blogged recently, but when I received this beautiful poem from her, I knew it had to be the final post in this Christmas guest post series! Merry Christmas, everyone!]           ALIVE REMAINS THE MANGER SCENE Sweet Baby Jesus asleep on the hay With reverence I kneel down before You today In worship and prayer, tears fall from my eyes; For You’re God – yet and infant – with soft gentle cries. I wonder – were Your infant tears shed for me? Because of my sin, and the great penalty That I could not, on my own ever pay? Were…

  • Devotionals

    Every Good Gift

    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 Well, Christmas is nearly here! There’s only one more post left in our Christmas guest post series, “The gifts God has given you.” That will go up on Tuesday. I truly hope you’ve been encouraged by the series! After that, Devotional Diva will take a holiday break until January. At this point, I’m not sure of the exact date in January we’ll be back! I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you to begin submitting your stories for 2015!…

  • Devotionals

    Extending God's Gift of Grace

    [Guest post by Carla Gasser: Carla submitted this piece when I was scheduling for this series, and although she didn’t intend to be a part of it, I thought her story of God’s grace was perfect for the series. As God gives grace to us, we should extend it to others!] I had an interesting conversation with one of my sons (whose name I will graciously withhold) at breakfast this morning. I was asking why he was wearing the same khaki shorts for the third day in a row.  He started complaining that he had no clean shorts because “someone” had not washed them.  Excuse me?   I held my breath…

  • Devotionals,  Health & Body

    Mental Illness is My Gift from God

    [Guest post by Linda Svoboda: Thank you, Linda, for bravely sharing your story on mental illness! It’s challenging to accept mental illness in your life at all, let alone call it a gift from God!] I am so thankful for all the gifts that God has given me, but I am especially grateful for one that He has blessed me with. Many people would not see it as a gift, but rather a difficult challenge.  Most people have a hard time talking about my gift and don’t understand what it truly is.  However, a few really get it.  They understand that my gift is indeed a truly unique treasure and…