At the end of May, we made the decision after more than a decade together to start going to church. That first sermon, I heard the pastor say, “The best of intentions, based on lies, lead to self righteousness.” My first moment of conviction took less than an hour and planted a seed that would…
Read more4 Lessons on Parenting from Incident Command Training
Last night, as I was cooking dinner, I heard a crash, quickly followed by tears of panic and pain. My seven year old had once again crawled into her toy shopping cart, and once again, she found herself the victim of “48 pounds of one poor choice meets gravitational pull”. I instantly turned around and…
Read moreHow to Grow by Finding Life’s Lessons in the Valleys of Life
Ever had a situation you wish wouldn’t have happened? One of those moments where you secretly long for a magic wand to wave over to erase it, so you could just go back to the way things were? I used to. Like seriously, who doesn’t think life would be so much better if the Staples…
Read moreEverlasting Father: Tips for Parents
Have you been debating what to give your family for Christmas this year? As Pastor Andy Coats was preaching today on Isaiah 9:6, “Hope Has a Name: Everlasting Father”, I couldn’t help but let his words ring in my ears. “…that’s why it is so important for men to be involved in their kid’s lives…
Read moreYou Don’t Need to Be Perfect | How to Make the Breakthrough
More than a decade ago I took a class called “Leadership from the Heart”. Part of the class involved identifying one thing in your life that held you back and then making a commitment to “break through it”. Symbolically, each class participant wrote our area of struggle on the front of a board. On the…
Read moreHow to Overcome Fear and Anxiety
Ever have moments of insomnia at night caused by stress you’re facing? While you’re laying in bed, you overplay every scenario you could possibly think of happening in your head? Ever have to walk into a situation where your level of anxiety is super high and you wish like anything you could just avoid it…
Read moreManaging Expectations: Mighty God, Plan, Power and Promise
Have you ever been in a situation where you expected something to happen, and you ended up experiencing something entirely different? Have you ever found yourself disappointed with God’s timing, response (or apparent lack thereof) to your prayers? In today’s message at Trinity Baptist Church, Pastor Andy Coats continued our study of Isaiah 9:6 in…
Read moreDo You Test or Trust God?
Last night, my daughter was sleeping beside me when a storm warning alarm, followed by thunder and rain, woke her up. “Mommy, are we going to be safe?,” she asked, no longer asleep. “I’m scared.” “Yes kiddo. Let’s ask God to keep us safe,” I responded. “But how do you know we will be safe,”…
Read moreThe Two Sides of Pride
This week marks the end of the journey we have taken through the ReEngage class at Trinity Baptist Church. Of all the things I have learned about myself over the last 16 weeks, the most humbling one has been realizing just how un-humbly I have been living my life. If you had told me in…
Read moreLetting Go of What Others Say & Think About You
Oops … I did it again. 🤦♀️ Last night, I let the salty words of others get into my heart and create internal strife. After a truly wonderful evening with my family, I got a Facebook notification and read it. And I allowed my whole evening thereafter to sour. My husband held me as I…
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