(Repost) The Heart of Palm Sunday

Pausing to Celebrate

I haven’t been posting as frequently as I desired, but I’m sharing the latest from my world and what I’m celebrating.

How Are You Leaning?

I was pleasantly surprised when some of you asked about my word for this year. I write, and it is always encouraging when people interact with my me. My word for 2025 is “plumb line.” I knew a deeper recalibration was happening and necessary in my walk with Jesus. As I prayed and pondered it, […]

Update: Day 348 of 2024

I’ve meant to write an update on The Bible Recap (TBR) for months. I am still keeping up with the plan and enjoying it very much. It is a chronological Bible plan to complete the Bible in one year. I access the plan through The Bible App but check out https://www.thebiblerecap.com/start to learn more. The […]

I’m Back! (Update)

I never intended to be away this long. I have been busy with life, ministry, and fostering kittens. (The last kitten went to its forever home this morning.) I’m still enjoying The Bible Recap and just finished Day 181! My daughter’s junior year of homeschooling kept us quite busy. In addition to homeschooling, I facilitated […]

Update: 18 Days Into 2024 & Tending My Heart More

I wanted to share some of my thoughts about my experience with The Bible Recap (TBR) since January 1st. I’m enjoying it and learning a lot. I was a little nervous about reading three or four chapters of scripture daily. I understood it thanks to staying connected to the overarching theme of scripture and the […]

Tending the Garden of Our Heart More in 2024

Happy New Year! It is the first day of 2024, which can bring various feelings, depending on the previous year and your emotional state. I’m recovering from a cold that passed through our kids and, despite my best attempts at immune-boosting supplements, rudely interrupted my weekend. A slower pace after the busyness of Christmas and […]

Don’t Forget to Celebrate This

Today is Reformation Day, often overshadowed by other cultural festivities that involve costumes and candy. 😀 On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther released 95 powerful statements defending authentic Christian faith against misleading religious practices. His actions inspired countless believers to pursue true repentance and a biblical foundation for their faith. Luther recaptured the biblical view […]

Pray for Israel: How To Resist Fear In Troubling Times

These are sobering times to be alive as the cosmic struggle between good and evil, as laid out in the Bible, is displayed. As Western Christians, we have primarily lacked the understanding of the Bible, how it relates to current events, and where the world will end up. Contrary to popular belief, the Bible has […]

The Call to Serve: Will You Join Me?

I love words, as most of us who write blogs and share our thoughts and observations do. I am such a visual learner, so I prefer seeing the words, then only listening to them. However, I know there are many (two in my household) who have had a complicated relationship with words due to learning […]

Goal #3: Living with Purpose & Passion

I have been most excited to share this goal because I believe it is at the heart of this community and truly sets it apart. Secret Spring comes directly from Song of Songs 4:12. It is about the journey of the Shulamite growing in her relationship with Jesus and discovering His passionate love for her […]

Goal #2: Resurrection Power & Suffering

Please take a moment and think of a Christian you respect and admire, someone worthy of emulating for how they follow Jesus. Seriously, picture this person and think about their testimony. I’m guessing they have walked through challenging seasons and overcome a thing or two or ten! They paid a price for the wisdom they […]

Goal #1: Boast In Jesus & Grow In Knowledge

I don’t watch the news, but plenty of negative reports flood social media about all the bad in the world —what the enemy is doing. The world’s cries flaunt death, turmoil, chaos, wars, and rumors of wars ad nauseam. It is far too easy for even Christians to get caught up in the current negativity […]

Vision: More Than a Blog, Building A Faith Community

It has been in my heart to share my hopes for building a community of believers in Jesus to encourage each other to go deeper and after ‘the more’ of God so we can better serve our families, churches, and spheres of influence. I am a member of a beautiful, life-giving, Christ-honoring home church (North […]

Resuming With Refined Focus

I have felt the nudge to resume writing, but only recently gained some needed revelation and insight about its focus. I encourage you to read my revised Welcome to learn more. I’ve had particular messages burning in my heart as I have walked through my share of tests and trials, as I’m sure you have. […]

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

I’m convinced now more than ever that Christians need accurate theology and biblical understanding for this unique historical time. We need to clearly understand the worth of Jesus and give our full yes to following Him no matter the cost, like true disciples. Claiming the name of Christ is an act of war in the […]

Reflections On The Fire Within

It’s so easy for Christians to be overly focused on who we are as people in the natural that we forget the reality of who lives in us and that we have been born again as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are NOT who we once were, and that is why […]

Reflections On Reaching A Breaking Point

Everyone has a breaking point, which is good and necessary for maturity in Christ. I know because I have been broken, shattered beyond what I thought was repairable. Something happened when I realized I was in a process beyond my control. I surrendered to Jesus in a new way, yielded because I had come to […]

Tips For Remodeling Your Interior World

Way back in high school, I remember when they took the roof off of our house and added three bedrooms and a bathroom. The framing of this new level went up before our eyes, and it was so exciting to see so much progress so quickly. Then the windows went in, and the siding went […]

How Needy Are You?

I was listening to the newest album released by Jesus Culture entitled Why Not Right Now? and was stirred by an interlude by Corey Russell. He shared that God honors hunger and that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled (Matthew 5:6). In Matthew 5:3, it states, “Blessed are the poor in […]

Do You Need To Slow Down?

This morning I was reflecting on how quickly life flies by. It led me to remember a quote from Ferris Buehler’s Day Off. “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Ferris Buehler It’s too easy to get caught up in the busyness and […]

How Hungry Are You?

The older I get, the more I cherish quality food. When I was young, I rarely enjoyed eating and only ate because my body required it. I was too busy playing soccer or softball. When I became a Christian at age 18, during the fall of my first year of college, I quickly discovered spiritual […]

MLK: Carrying on His Quest for Truth and Justice

Our church, North Jersey Vineyard, has a beautiful tradition of having Pastor Charles recite one of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s sermons in character for our sermon. Rev. King preached the scriptures and the gospel of the Kingdom of God unapologetically when it was not easy but necessary. It was so powerful to hear his […]

Bearing Fruit from the Past Three Years

It doesn’t require a prophetic gift to discern all of the problems and evil in our world. Now, more than ever, it is clear that we are not living in neutral territory. This raging war is of biblical proportions: between good and evil, light and darkness. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, […]

My Response to Living in an Unraveling World

I have allowed the craziness to push me closer to Jesus and understanding who He is and the Kingdom of God that He reigns and invites us to reign with Him. I can’t be passive or casual with faith in these times. I must be rooted deeply in the Word of God so the circumstances […]

What Puzzles Taught Me About Kingdom Living

Wisdom says that we must have rest and play to offset all the hard work and stress from our daily lives. This has been increasingly important as stress levels have exponentially increased due to the pandemic and other stressful world events. We all must find a few ways to relax and fill our “emotional tanks” […]

Drink Deeply and Experience for Yourself

Life is always an adventure with twists and turns, unexpected challenges, and blessings. Chores and responsibilities cause minutes to fly, turning hours into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months until everything halts. And halt it did. Sudden fatigue and heading to bed early led to not feeling well and, ultimately, a covid positive […]

The Deeper Invitation of Shelter in Place

It’s not very often that a show your family has been watching ends, and everyone looks at each other with surprise and disappointment that it is over! However, this has consistently been our experience as my family and I enjoyed all eight episodes of The Chosen. WHAT IS THE CHOSEN? “The Chosen is the first-ever-multi-season […]

Finding Strength in Our New Reality

I don’t know about you, but the soberness of this unique time in history started to sink in this week. After the initial adrenaline rush of preparing for quarantine living and social distancing, I think I have begun a new level of processing. The newness of it all has worn off and living my own […]