When the Trees are Blooming but Your Heart is Not - A Spring Bible Study on Habakkuk

Well, first off, I'm kind of terrified to announce this.
I've never done this on the blog before.
In fact, I haven't done much of ANYthing on the blog as of late.
But there was something in me that wouldn't let the idea go.
And like my West-Texas husband says, "If you've got an itch, scratch it."
(Wow, he's going to hate that I attributed that quote to him. I promise he's educated:)

The itch I have is all Habakkuk's fault.
I started hanging out with him last year, and his story did something to me.
I loved it so much that I wanted to create a place to talk about it with others.






So that's why, beginning next week, we are going to usher in springtime by looking at, soaking in, learning from the itsy-bitsy, tiny book of HABAKKUK.

People may wonder why I would want to welcome springtime with Habakkuk.
He was a guy who suffered a lot. And shouldn't spring be about newness, sunshine, refreshment?
Yea, but the truth is, our hearts don't always reflect the seasonal calendar.
Trees may be blooming, but maybe your heart feels more like winter.

So if you are going through a hard time, have been through a hard time or will go through a hard time (see how I did that?), then you may want to hop on this study. You can grab a girlfriend to do it with you, or just grab a comfy chair in Starbucks.

Then, if you're up for it, comment on the posts - ask questions, teach me and others what you are learning, give me feedback. I would love to get to know you a bit.

Sign up with your e-mail on the right side of this page to receive the latest post OR follow me HERE for updates.

Bring a journal, a Bible (or Bible App), a pen, your favorite mug of something hot, and together, let's discover more about the heart of God through His prophet Habakkuk.
I'll see you next Wednesday!

What I Wish I Knew In My 20's

[Preface: Well, I have a feeling that the title of this blog, alone, has made some older and much-wiser women roll their eyes. 
So please receive this blog as a simple, humble and far-from-perfect reflection from a girl who still has a LOT to learn.]

I just recently turned 30.
The day after my birthday, I was sitting on an airplane and decided it would be a fun exercise to list 20 lessons from my 20's - the first ones that came to mind.
I thought I would share them.
Then I would love it if you shared some of your own! So comment below. (I love comments.)

In my 20's I learned some lessons like ...
1. How to pay a bill on time (and the consequence of the opposite)
2. What a health insurance deductible means
3. Eating a McDonalds McGriddle right before running isn't a good idea.
4. As long as I have cereal, milk, peanut butter and bread in my kitchen, I can go weeks without grocery shopping.
5. How to write a resume
6. My parents really are always right.
7. College is a marvelous, fun, life-shaping bubble. The real world bursts it. But that's a good thing.
8. How to use an iPhone
9. Living in a country where you don't know the language is a fast-track to humility.
10. Road rage never gets me anywhere, faster (a lesson I am still learning).


Then, I learned some deeper lessons like ...
11. When someone you love passes away, a lot of things that used to be important aren't anymore.
12. A five-year plan needs to be written in pencil, on something easily disposable.
13. Asking questions and listening - two rare skills to find and ones I want to practice more.
14. Rejection and failure are really big fears of mine.
15. So much of my issues root in not forgiving people.
16. Being married is a beautiful gift but doesn't complete me.
17. The church is a family, and families can be messy.
18. Saying "no" to good things doesn't make me a bad person. In fact, sometimes it makes me a better person. (Just ask my husband:))
19. People-pleasing is like running on a treadmill - it gets me no where and leaves me exhausted.
20. Grace. It's everything.

I finished the list, got off the plane, and then headed out to the lake where I was going to celebrate my birthday with some of my most-cherished friends.

I love the lake. I grew up going to the lake every summer. My girlfriends and I sat out on the porch, close to the water.
It was a warm July night.
The summer breeze stirred up the smell of water and sunscreen.
And I guess the nostalgia of the lake made me sappy.
Well, let's get real. I'm just a sappy kinda girl.

So I asked them the sappy question I had asked myself on the plane.
"What are some of the lessons you learned in your 20's?"
We laughed at some of the comments, got serious with others.

And then one of my friends said one I really liked.
She said, "I learned towards the end of my 20's that the more I know, the more I don't know."

Yes. Love that. Wish I really believed that in my 20's.
I wasted so many years pretending I knew, feeling like I should know or striving to know it ALL!
When one of the most beautiful things about life is that I never will.

Just when I think I've got life mastered, I turn an unknown corner.
Just when I think I've grasped all there is to know about friendships, marriage, my job ... life hands me an experience that's like a new, crisp textbook, never read.

I love that about life - there's always something more to learn.

And I love that even more about God.

There is always something new to learn about God.
There is always more to Him.
More to experience, more to discover.

"The Lord Has No Equal     
Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? 
Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?
Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?  ...
Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?
Who else has held the oceans in his hand?" (Isaiah 40:12-14, NLT)

In this new 30's decade, I hope that I never reach a place where I think I have it all figured out.
And I hope I never have an attitude that acts as if I do.
I hope I heart and mind that keeps learning more - more about relationships, cultures, the stars ...

And I especially want to keep learning more about the Creator of it all.

I want to learn MORE about this God who always offers MORE.
More love, more grace, more hope.

And no matter what decade you are in, I hope you will do the same.
Let's stop acting as if we know it all. Know-it-all's miss it all;)
Instead, let's seek God in a new way - maybe for the first time, maybe for the 70th year.
There's always more.



[I want to hear your lessons from the good 'ole 20's decade! Funny or from-the-heart ... doesn't matter. I love reading your comments!]

Back-to-School Giveaway for Youth Workers

(This giveaway is dedicated to the youth minister, the youth ministry volunteer, small group leader, mentor ... anyone who serves middle-school or high-school girls.) 

The new school year is starting, and for you that means:
Starbucks dates
Long conversations about boys
Weekend retreats
Slumber parties
Sunday mornings
Volleyball games
Late-night texts
Mid-morning texts
Afternoon texts
Anytime-of-day texts :)
Drama mediation
More Starbucks dates
More long conversations about boys


If any of this sounds familiar, that means you probably have chosen to walk alongside some of God's most lovely, yet, at times, most complicated, creatures: middle-school and high-school girls.

So today is a giveaway for those giving their lives away specifically to young women.

Thank you for being the one that is there - there through the break-ups, there when she loses the game, there when the bullying gets worse, there when she makes an "A," there when her parents separate, there when she gets into the university.
You are there.
More than fancy words, more than a solution, more than money ... just being there is the part she will remember.
"There" is one of the best gifts you can offer.

As a thank you, I'm doing a little giveaway of three books that you may want to read with the middle- school or high-school girl(s) in your world.

If you need a small group curriculum idea, something to read through on your coffee dates or just something you want to give to her on her Birthday, then who knows?
Maybe these books can help.

So sign up today for a chance to win three books:
"Redefining Beautiful - What God Sees When He Sees You"
"From Blaw to Awe - Shaking Up A Boring Faith"
"Love Is ... 6 Lessons On What Love Looks Like"

a Rafflecopter giveaway
or check them out HERE

Praying that each of you youth volunteers/workers is fueled by God's love to serve another semester with joy.
I admire you.
And I know those young girls in your world do to. (Even if they don't say it much).

WINNERS of "Redefining Beautiful" Giveaway!

Drum roll please ….

Congratulations to Paula L and Lynn D!!!
I will contact each of you personally.
Thanks to everyone who joined the giveaway!
And keep those eyes out for another giveaway very, very soon.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

For Moms of Middle-School Girls

First, let me say that you are my heroes.
Moms of middle-school girls are my heroes.
You walk with them through it all.

Braces, puberty, first boyfriends, the "cool" crowd, the not-so-cool crowd, zits, gossip, homework, soccer, texting, band, drama …

Oh, middle school.

And amidst all of that chaos, middle-school girls are asking some big questions.
Maybe not always out loud but in their hearts.

Will they accept me?
Do I have to look a certain way for him to like me?
Am I smart enough?
Am I athletic enough?
Will I ever be as cool as she is?
Will my boobs ever grow? (Maybe that was just me:)

And then, I believe deep down most middle-school girls are asking this "doozy":
Am I beautiful?

And if we are honest, it's probably a question that we, who have had middle school in the rearview for miles upon miles, still ask at times.

Judith Rivers, a friend of mine, knew her daughters would be asking these questions, especially the questions surrounding this idea of beauty.

So she decided to give them a chance to talk about those kind of questions in a safe place with women they could look up to, women who had been in their shoes, women who wouldn't judge, just love.

Every month she, a few other middle-school-girl moms and their daughters, along with any of their daughters' friends, would discuss a chapter from a book I wrote a while back called, "Redefining Beautiful - What God Sees When He Sees You."
They would laugh, cry, talk, pray and, of COURSE, eat snacks.

Then, at the end of the school semester, they had a big party to celebrate the group coming to an end.
And I got to join!
It was a blast! We danced, sang, ate (a lot), and talked about what REAL beauty is.

Here we are being cray cray.
I'm somewhere in the middle of that sea of blue cuties.

So I started thinking with the new school year rolling up (YIKES!), maybe you would want to do something like my friend Judith.
Maybe you would be interested is having your own "Redefining Beautiful" group.

Or ... maybe you are thinking, "Girl, paleeeaase. You think I got time for that?!"

If so, it could be that you scale it way, way, way back.
Maybe just you and your daughter sit down once a month with some popcorn and nail-polish, read a chapter, then chat about it.

It can be as simple or grand as you want it.

To get ready for the school year, I'm doing a couple of "Redefining Beautiful" giveaways.

If you win, then you can check it out and see if it's something you would want to go through with that middle-school drama-mama… ahem … I mean … princess of yours;)

Here ya go! Hope you win it! And if not, you can check it out here.






a Rafflecopter giveaway