God’s grace is sufficient for me. What does the word sufficient mean? That is what I found myself asking when I recently read this verse. Sufficient seems sort of…well, sufficient.
When Life Hurts
She was skipping along, smiling, and searching for the moon. Before I could remind her to watch her step, her feet lost their place and the sidewalk reached up and ripped the skin from her knees. She howled. Using the sleeve of my hoodie, I wiped the blood from the legs of my tender-hearted three-year-old and held her tight.
On Knowing What to Hold and What to Release
Like many of you, I collected random paraphernalia during my elementary years. Child development experts tell us that this ‘gathering and sorting’ stage is a healthy indicator of our active imaginations and natural bent toward classifying objects. My two oldest are currently in this phase and the organizer in me wants to chuck all of their [perceived] rubbish out the window.
What’s for Lent This Year?
Three Must-Knows About Humility
Seeking Your Purpose
When I dream about becoming the woman God has created me to be, it’s often associated with a long list of items that I have to do. How I can muster enough strength to stop worrying, focus on the positive, stop spending excess money, be more patient. I make these mental lists in my mind and when I don’t achieve them, I get upset with myself, causing a cycle of guilt. I want to live out this dream to be the best wife, mom, daughter, sister, co-worker, but it is honestly futile if I am doing it on my own strength.
When Waiting is the Plan
Have you ever been stuck on a runway waiting for take-off? The minutes tick by slowly as you worry about not making your connecting flight or not beginning the vacation for which you are paying. You get impatient and think about how you can’t really “begin” your trip until you get to your destination.
Finding Unlimited Help Within the Limits
Summer's Bountiful Blessings
Clear Skies Ahead
From the Mouths of Babes
My toddler learned a Vacation Bible School song that we’ve all been singing frequently over the past couple of weeks from the Roar! VBS program called I’m Trusting You.
A Safe Place to Put Your Mind
I grew up in the heart of the Catskill Park in upstate New York. I swam in the Esopus Creek and hiked up Wittenberg Mountain. Whenever I walked the two miles along Route 28 from my house to Kirk’s Market in Phoenicia, I always ran into a neighbor I knew. The natural beauty of the Catskill Mountains and the friendly community made it a wonderful place to be a kid. I can’t possibly tell you what a childhood in that park means to me.
I also grew up with schizophrenia in my family…
It's Not About Me!
New Year, New You!
I keep hearing people say “new year, new you!” The problem is, I don’t feel new. The year is barely a week old and I feel overwhelmed and overburdened. I feel like I can’t do even one more thing, that the tasks ahead of me are too many. Work. Home. Friends. Family. Laundry. Dinner. Cleaning. I feel pulled in so many directions that I can’t possibly do it all, like I am not enough. I feel like the needs of those around me are too great. I just can’t do it.
Stepping Out Into the Darkness
When God Withholds…
Lately I’ve been asking God for a miracle. Nothing big, nothing particularly life-changing, but one I’m yearning for nonetheless. It’s one of those things that would be against all odds. I’m boldly asking, but then just as soon as I ask, I tend to dismiss the possibility that He will actually do this thing...
What’s Your Walking Speed?
I was reading in 1 John earlier and got pricked by, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). This verse has many lessons to glean about living a life like His, but what got me was a literal question. Do I walk “in the same way in which he walked?”
What do YOU Believe About God?
A few years ago, our pastor started a sermon with this quote from AW Tozer: "What we believe about God is the most important thing". I remember thinking 'Oh, that's good'. I then heard, saw or read that quote five more times in the next two weeks. So, I thought, maybe God was trying to get my attention with those words.
Charge it!
Dressing in and out.
It’s prom season everywhere. At the Holguin house, we just passed through the sweet season of the hundred-fold decisions about length and color, style and shoes, handbags and jewelry. Working with high school students as a profession has offered little reprieve. My juniors and seniors are rapt in continuous side conversations about prom attire: where did you buy your dress? What heels are you wearing? What kind of tux did you rent?