Friday, May 23, 2014

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I love this prayer Paul said for his Christian friends in Ephesus.
What truly is rich and glorious? It is easy to get caught up in a fear about what we have and must constantly repair or what we don’t have and long for. I often think, “If I only had a bit more money, I could fix my house up or travel more often, etc.  Do these material things bring me strength? No!  I derive strength from my Lord and Savior.  When Christ dwells in my heart through faith, His Spirit entrusts me with a power I do not possess on my own.  When I am rooted and established in Christ’s love, I wonder at the sacrifice Christ paid for me. I recently went to a writers’ conference and took a class on power speaking. While standing in a circle, the instructor asked us to reach with our arms and place our hands toward the center of the circle with eyes closed. We were to stay this way until we heard something from God. I am of Lutheran heritage. We are quite reserved and value solitude in prayer with God.  Although this made me a bit uncomfortable, I played along.  Sure enough, God started to send adjectives my way!  The first word that came to mind was actually a noun – health.  When I am nervous and anxious, my health suffers and I sleep poorly and get indigestion.  The second word that popped into my head was “scattered.”  When I’m anxious, I’m scattered.  My mind flits to all corners thinking, “I need to do this and then complete that….and then another thing until the anxiety increases exponentially. The last word that stuck with me and would not leave my mind was “grounded.”  I realized that when I am established in Christ’s love and rooted and grounded in Him, I don’t fuss and fume and become scattered.  My strength becomes centered in my Savior and He gives me peace and focus. His love surpasses all knowledge!  I pray that you “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God!



Tuesday, May 13, 2014

I am excited to announce that my book "Great Expectations: An Adoption Story and Devotional" is now in print! If you would like to purchase a copy please click on the link provided below. The book will also be available for purchase on Amazon.com. Thank you!

http://www.crosslinkpublishing.com/product_detail.php?product_id=171