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Meet Our "Beauty Diva" Asia!
[Editor’s note: Asia approached me with the idea of becoming the “Beauty Diva” — As a professional makeup artist, she wanted to share photos of her makeovers and the stories of those women! I was pretty excited. I believe this will be a cool weekly feature to have on Devotional Diva, and I hope you will enjoy our “Beauty Saturdays!” In this post you will get to know her a little better, and next Saturday will be her first guest post!] Kimberly “Asia” Hall born April 29, 1988 in Columbia, SC is a makeup artist employed by Eastern TV/Vh1. She is the middle child of Pastor Jerry L. Hall and Wanda…
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A Jonah Story
[Guest post by Onome. I love the way Onome looks at life’s situations and relates them back to the Lord. If you’ve ever felt like you’re in the belly of a giant fish, this is for you.] I was reading my five-year-old’s Bible one day when I ran into the Jonah story. Reading it through the eyes of a child gave me a better perspective. I was hit by the realization that Jonah was actually in the belly of a fish when he prayed and God heard him. I went back to read the passage from my Bible. In Jonah 1:17, the Bible recorded that God had prepared…
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You Can Have a Peaceful Pregnancy
[Guest post by Sarah Coleman: Sarah was the first woman to reach out to me to submit a guest post when I became editor. I loved her writing and I could feel her kind and generous spirit through the computer screens that connected us. For those of you on the path of motherhood, be encouraged.] John 14:27 I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. I was fairly optimistic when it came to pregnancy. I mean, teenage girls don’t have a problem with it. Why would I? Of course…
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Christians and Exclusivity
To preface: this post has more bite than usual because it’s a topic I’m very passionate about: exclusivity. Today is a special edition of Devotional Diva! This hiatus isn’t turning out to be much of a hiatus, is it? And we normally don’t even have posts on Mondays! Well, I just had to get this up today because this topic has been burning in my heart – and also because it coincides nicely with the publishing of my guest post on a pretty sweet blog called The Laundry Moms. First of all, the post on TLM means a lot to me because it’s sort of a tribute to my…
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The 3 People You Need to Meet
[Maggie is on vacation so I thought I’d jump on and encourage you all with the three people you need to meet to achieve your dreams. My newest book, Dream Devotional, just released this month. Pick up a copy on Amazon for only $2.99!] Dreaming together is important because we are designed, commanded, and encouraged into a loving relationship with God and each other. I’ll never forget the day I was sitting at the front desk as the office receptionist when a woman walked in for an interview. She thought I was pregnant–say what??–and asked me when I was due. I was completely shocked and mortified. She felt really bad too…
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I'm Moving On From A Painful Past
I have spent this summer introducing you to myself. Guest posting will return on September 2nd, but after today Devotional Diva is going on a short hiatus. I still have a lot of ideas for post topics, but last week I asked my husband what he thought I should write for my final post. Without asking for any of my ideas, he just replied, “You should write more about your life now.” He’s completely right. I’ve written quite a lot about my past this summer. It makes sense, because all of us draw on our past for hints on how to handle our futures. I’ve written about my physical assault at…
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Looking Back on My Physical Assault at Work
I believe my physical assault at work led to my downward spiral into depression and anxiety. But it also taught me about my own courage. I was already depressed. I had already suffered trauma. I was still physically sick. But I was trudging on. I tried to keep up with my job at Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese has a system in place that aims to ensure children’s safety called “Kid Check.” Families that enter together (adults included) all get a stamp with a number on their hand. That number is checked upon exit to make sure that kids leave with the right adults. Babies get a sticker with the…
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How I Became a Christian
This is the story of how I became a Christian. But first, it’s important to look at my parents’ faith background. My mom was raised Catholic and always had some issues with it. After she became an adult, she looked for another Christian church. She actually ran into a really weird, disillusioning church sect in the process. Nothing ever felt right, and she eventually stopped looking. But she was always a Christian. My dad has really always been a man of God, too. He’s just never been that into actually going to church. Since my mom didn’t like being raised in a faith she didn’t agree with, she and my…
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When Christians Are Hurt: Share Your Story!
I have been hurt. You have been hurt. We’ve all been hurt. But how do you respond to hurt in a Christian way? If you identify as a Christian, you believe in the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus. One of the verses I always associate with Jesus is this one: Matthew 5:38-40 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken…
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Why I Chose to Marry Young
Why I chose to marry young I chose to marry young — at 19, to be exact. As some of you may know, I am still pretty young – 22, to be exact. There’s that Taylor Swift song “22,” but I don’t relate to it at all because I’m married and have been for 2 and a half years. I don’t know if you’ve heard that song, but here are a couple quick quotes: Everything will be alright If we just keep dancing like we’re 22 And It feels like one of those nights We won’t be sleeping Nope, does not describe my life at 22 at…
