I get a lot of questions about Bibles, devotionals, and studies for teenage girls. I truly love seeking out great ones that will impact these young girls for many years. Y’all, I love a good devotional. I mean – hello!

Being a teenager is hard, y’all.

No doubt.

They need all the help they can get especially in this social media driven world. After all, what goes in is what comes out. We need to feed them all the good, wholesome food that we can, and it starts with us. We are their first source of nutrition.

If we can teach our girls to be Kingdom-focused then we can rest assured that they are going to be just fine in anything and everything that this ol’ world throws their way.

Because if they are truly Kingdom-focused then they are God-focused, and they have a best friend that’s never going to steer them wrong. Now I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy, but I am saying that they will never be alone. I am saying that they will have true joy as they sojourn on through the path that is placed before them.

They won’t have to worry about what college or what career or what friends or what guy because they will be in constant communication with their creator – the one that planned their future in the womb. The one that loves them more than anyone else. Even more than you do – let that sink in. It’s the truth.

We have to teach them to listen. We have to show them how to obey.

God will guide them through the small steps and the big steps and all the messy mundane steps in the middle.

We just have to show them how, Mamas. We have to model this way of life, and we have to be real about it. There’s gonna have to be a lot of conversations. A lot of praying. A lot of praise and worship – and a lot of holding your own tongue when you really wanna let it rip.

So, Mamas, let’s do a self check:

▪️How are you?

▪️Are you truly trusting in God for the big and the small?

▪️Are you Kingdom-focused?

▪️Are you modeling this out loud and on purpose?

It starts with you, Mama. It starts with you.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

“We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”

Hebrews 6:19

An effective anchor is unseen. It goes down into the deep to grab hold of the secure ground in order to hold the boat steady. If the anchor is seen, it is likely not doing its job and the boat is bouncing around and drifting. An effective anchor is also securely attached to the boat. If the anchor is not attached securely, it will come loose again causing the boat to bounce around and drift. Bouncing and drifting in uncertain waters can be very dangerous, so it is imperative for that anchor to work.

Life is filled with choppy, dangerous waters. I remember with great detail a few years ago when our lives seemed to be in complete chaos. We didn’t know how we were going to pay for our daughter’s last year of college as my husband was without work. We didn’t know how we were going to manage rebuilding after a major flood destroyed our home and took our cars. We didn’t know where we were going to live if/when we managed to rebuild. We didn’t know how we were going to continue to help our son who was in seminary. Basically, we just didn’t know a whole lot except that we were in turbulent waters, and life was hard. My husband told me, “This is when our faith is lived out. Because of Christ, we have hope.” We had to make sure our lives were securely attached to the Anchor we could not physically see but that we professed to believe in. We had hope because of our Anchor. As we held on, all of the answers to those questions we didn’t have answers to were answered in ways we could not even have imagined. That Anchor held us steady through one of the most difficult and tumultuous times of our lives.

It’s easy to have faith in the good times, but what about those hard times? Do we have that Anchor that holds us? We cannot physically see God, but we can trust in His secure holding of us when we are firmly attached. That Anchor is what gives us hope when things seem hopeless. When those choppy, dangerous waters are present, and they will come, stay securely holding onto the Anchor that you may not physically see. In that Anchor lies our hope for life no matter what turbulence we face.

I think everyone reading this realizes we have been in the midst of a drought. I’m writing this on 8/18 and praying that by 9/4 we have had some rain.

We have a pond at the shop where we work and I love to go sit out there on my breaks. As I was walking out there this morning the grass was crunching under my feet. It’s brown and dry. If I’m being honest I feel a little like that grass. I’m a little dried out by circumstances beyond my control. I’m trying my best not to be crunchy or cranky 😳.

I noticed that as I got closer to the pond the grass got greener. There’s a little island a few feet out in the pond and it is lush, green and a bit out of control. It’s growing in the midst of a water source. What a great visual! God is so faithful and encouraging even in something that is so routine for me.

I have complete access to the source of living water and the greatest power in the universe lives within me. My circumstance may say drought, but my Father says come to me and I will….give you rest (Matt 11:28), make you lie down in green pastures, lead you by still waters and restore your soul (Psalm 23) 🙌🏻

🗣️ Those are shoutin words. (Where my Sistas at) 🗣️

The question is do I believe it or nah?? Do I grab hold of that and hang on to those promises or do I wallow around in the circumstance?

I’m tying a knot and hanging on baby! God is worthy, faithful and good.

My heart is steadfast, O Lord my heart is steadfast……(Psalm 57:7)

Whatever you might be going through (because it’s hard out here) determine today to hang on to Jesus. And. Don’t. Let. Go!

Love y’all 😘 and shout out to the best sister in the world Teena Elkins on her birthday 🥳

I tell y’all what, I know God is growing me right now and not in a way I would have ever imagined or preferred! But isn’t that how God works? If we knew what he was doing all the time and knew how he was going to do it then why would we need him?

We live in a broken sinful world so we know conflict will arise. Unfortunately, that conflict usually takes us by surprise and we have no time to prepare. Here is something we can remember when we find ourselves in these situations,

Ephesians 4:29 says “Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear it.

Max Lucado put it this way, “Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.”

If that isn’t how your last conflict went and your feeling a little convicted, that’s okay! God is growing you! It’s part of your sanctification and being humble and being willing to forgive and ask for forgiveness is such a beautiful thing.

Also, I want to encourage you. If you are going through a time that seems like every aspect of your life is tainted with conflict, give it to God. Lay it down at the foot of the cross. Let go of what is weighing your heart down and let Jesus carry it. It’s a sweet sweet relief.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

We can’t handle this life on our own. That’s why God gave us his one and only son, so that those who believe in Him won’t have to bear the burdens alone. We may not have the answers to why we go through hard times but we know the one who does. We just need to trust the process and have faith that whatever He is doing will be all for His glory!

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Our Creator perfectly designed our world to have seasons. Each year we inevitably transition through the seasons of winter, spring, summer, and fall. In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that life is also full of seasons and each is purposeful in strengthening our faith and leading us toward a deeper relationship with God. 

I am currently going through a season of change. The truth is, I dread a lot of change all at once because it can feel overwhelming and propels me into the unknown. Predictability feels safe. Surrendering control feels heavy. Change can make us feel exposed and unsteady and exhausted. It can leave us longing for the past when life felt predictable and safe.

But life is not about staying the same, which is why God will continuously change the seasons of life we are in. We can be assured that the length of our seasons, the time at which seasons arrive and depart, are set by God for our good and according to His purpose. The best way that we can move through such a season is with the assurance that even though our lives will change – God will not. Whether you are moving, transitioning jobs, adapting to being an empty nester, or all three like me – He is working in your life to create plans that are for your good and His glory.

When you find yourself walking in a season of change, use your circumstances as a catalyst to strengthen your faith. He will not leave you…

“I am with you always.”

Matthew 28:20

One of the kindest acts ever done for me was over 20 years ago when I was still a new soldier in the army. I was in AIT, job training, and had finally earned the opportunity to go off post on the weekends, so I found a church I could attend.

Since it had been months that I had had a home-cooked meal, a lady in the church wanted to invite me to her home for lunch one day. Unfortunately, her husband was an instructor on the post, so I could not go to their home as that would be considered fraternizing. She could have just said, “Oh, well,” and let that be that. It’s the thought that counts, right? She instead decided she was going to bring a plate of food to me at the barracks.

Awesome! The day she was going to bring me a plate of good, home cooking, it started raining and not just a little bit either. It was POURING! Again, this SHOULD have been where she said, “Well, I tried,” but she didn’t. This woman drove and got out of her car in the midst of a rainstorm to make sure this soldier had that meal. Ever heard, “ Come Hell or high water?” She meant it.

It has been almost 23 years since she did that for me, and while I cannot remember her name I have not forgotten her or what she did. I am often reminded of that act of kindness, and I intercede for her every single time. She was faithful in that moment, and I have been faithful ever since to bring her before the Father. Maybe that’s why she was relentless in her efforts to bring a simple meal to a single soldier. Maybe Holy Spirit had her plant that seed so that she could reap the harvest of an intercessor. While I have no idea where she is or what her life has been like, Holy Spirit does. The Bible says we entertain angels unaware…maybe she was mine. Or maybe, in some way, I was hers.

I said all of that to say this: Everything you do for others is seen by all of Heaven. Don’t dismiss the value of your mustard seed. It only takes one match to set the world on fire.

“You cannot see the hands of God

Or feel the grace that flows

From Him through you to those you touch

In ways you’ll never know

You cannot measure worth by human standards

That’s always a lie

Oh, you have to see through heaven’s eyes how…

Your life woven day by day

Is a new design of the glory God displays

On the canvas of creation

Through the poem of history

In the pattern of redemption

Running through the tapestry

Your life in Christ can be

The greatest story ever told”

-The Greatest Story; Avalon