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Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
When our boys were little, if they were sick or something was amiss, we were often offered well-meaning, sometimes conflicting advice about what we should do to help them feel better. We decided early on that when it came to situations like that, we would trust the doctor over all the well-meaning, unsolicited advice. As parents, that philosophy served us well.
Isaiah 43:19 See, I am doing a new thing….I am making a way in the wilderness….
Jesus is the ultimate healer and physician. There is so much in life that is confusing and nonsensical, so much I don’t understand. Thankfully, He is big enough, strong enough, compassionate enough for me to say what I really feel, even if that is: “Lord, This utterly stinks. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not ok. I don’t want this. I don’t know how to deal with this. I am so afraid.” He is big enough, strong enough, compassionate enough to handle all of our feelings. He sees a way, He makes a way, even when all we see is wilderness. Jesus, Help me Trust You, even when I can’t see the way.
Isaiah 42:16a I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your love and compassion. Thank You for being big enough to handle my fear, confusion, and pain. Thank You for always making a way in the wilderness, for leading me along winding, unfamiliar paths. Help me to trust You so that I can take the next step, even when I can’t perceive the way forward. Thank You for Your steadfast presence and unfailing love. Draw me closer. Amen.
Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God.”
Have a blessed day. 

Jer 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
My sister claimed this verse as her own many years ago. She was struggling with health issues that eventually led to a liver transplant. For many months, we weren’t sure if she was going to make it, yet she was confident in God’s promise, and while she was hopeful she would be healed on this side of the veil, she knew God would heal her one way or the other. Her faith has long been an inspiration for me.
Psalm 39:7 And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You.
The season of Lent, reading and studying about what Jesus suffered, especially on His last day, is difficult for me. To think of what He endured and of the hopelessness His followers and loved ones must have felt, especially on that Saturday, hurts my heart in a way that is hard for me to describe. But without the pain, fear, loneliness, and uncertainty of Good Friday and Saturday, there could be no empty tomb and risen Savior on Easter morning. Thank You, Jesus.
Isaiah 42:16 I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your saving grace and mercy. Thank You for being with us, always, especially through the darkness and fear. We don’t always understand Your ways, Lord, and sometimes life can be so hard. Help us never to lose sight of the fact that You love us, deeply, that You are with us, always. Help us never to forget that You conquered the grave and that even if we cannot understand the things of this life, we can trust Your great love and compassion for us. Help us to cling to You. Always. Draw us closer. Amen.
Deut 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified…for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Have a blessed day.

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
When it comes to the safety of the hubs and of the oldest on the trail, the safety of the youngest and of me at home, I have such peace about this entire adventure. It is truly a blessing to feel such peace because it is not my nature. I am so tremendously thankful to my Savior for blanketing me with His peace about these things.
Mark 9:24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
And on the heels of my praise, I have to confess the anxiety and stress that still clings to me about things that seem so small and insignificant, things that in the grand scheme of things I know will work out—or won’t—and life will move seamlessly forward regardless. So why do I worry, stress, and fret over the little things? Jesus, Help me.
Isaiah 26:3 The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.
Lord, Thank You for this day, for Your peace, which transcends all understanding, for the reminder that there are still areas of my life where I am choosing to stress about my circumstances instead of trust in You. I do believe, Lord, in Your power and sovereignty, Your goodness and mercy, Your fierce love for me. I don’t want to hold anything back from You, Lord. Help me to lay ALL my burdens at Your feet, even those that feel too silly and insignificant to bother You with. Wrap me in Your peace. I do believe, Lord; help my unbelief. Draw me closer. Amen.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart….
Have a blessed day. 

Micah 6:8 …what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
As a mother and a teacher, I often feel the difficulty of balancing fairness and kindness. Every child is an individual with his own quirks, and allowances often need to be made for individual difficulties or deficits. And to protect an individual’s privacy, you can’t usually explain why an allowance that seems unfair has been made to compensate for something others don’t know is an issue.
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you….
And then you have those who just can’t get themselves into gear, maybe because they are lazy, maybe because they are stuck in survival mode in all aspects of their lives. As someone who strives to be fair and equitable to all, always, I often feel it to be difficult terrain to navigate.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the scripture You have laid on my heart. You call me to be kind and merciful, Lord, and I strive to do that daily, but I also feel there are standards that must be upheld. How do I balance people and expectations in a way that is fair and equitable to all, that respects and protects basic human dignity and upholds any sort of standard? Help me, Jesus, to love as You love, to serve as You serve, to do my job in a way that points others to You, not to standards. Draw me closer. Amen.
Zechariah 7:9 “…show kindness and mercy to one another….”
Have a blessed day.

Luke 6:45 …For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
This verse gave me pause this morning because I think so many people, myself included, can be very careless about what we say. I consider my heart to be full of goodness, love, and light, but sometimes, when I’m tired, frustrated, angry, the things that come out of my mouth are anything but uplifting and kind. Jesus, Help me.
Eph 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
For me, the struggle is how to remain the kind, loving, uplifting person I consider myself to be and still feel, process, and deal with the negative emotions when they come. I don’t want to hide behind a shiny mask of positivity that is perceived as fake. That’s not who I am. I don’t want to stuff down the negative until I explode. That’s not healthy. I want to be loving and kind but also real. That’s what I aim for daily—in these reflections and in life. Jesus, Help me.
2 Cor 4:13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak….
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for the reminder that what I say is important. Help me to pay attention to my words, Lord. Help them to be positive and uplifting. But also help me to be real, not putting lipstick on the pigs of life but being as uplifting as possible always, even in negative situations, being real and genuine and broken but also praising You, the light of my life, always. Draw me closer. Amen.
Psalm 63:3 Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.
Have a blessed day.

Psalm 148:3 Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars!
Reading this verse this morning took me back 14 years to when the hubs and I were expecting our oldest. We had meticulously picked out a nursery theme (sun, moon, and stars), bathed the nursery in soothing color, and painted this scripture above the crib. We were ready to welcome our bundle of joy.
Gen 21:20 And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness.
Our youngest turns 12 next week and our oldest will be 14 in a month, and sometimes I still marvel at my naivety as a parent and at God’s amazing grace and provision. Life often feels much more like a tangled wilderness than sweetly singing celestial beings, but I know God’s got us, He is in control—through the wilderness of the AT, through the wilderness of middle school, through the wilderness of life. Thank You, Jesus.
Psalm 139:13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reassurance of today’s scripture. You know each of us intimately, Lord. You saw us before all beginning. You created us, knitting us together with love and care. You know every hair on our heads, every breath in our bodies, every heartache and triumph we will endure. And You walk with us every step of this journey. Thank You, Jesus. Help us to never lose sight of the fact that we are Yours and that You are with us always. Draw us closer. Amen.
Psalm 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Have a blessed day.

John 11:3 …”Lord, the one You love is sick.”
I have read this verse before and not thought too much of the wording, but one of the daily devos I’m reading, Max Lucado’s Grace for the Moment, gave me pause this morning. I’ve always read the verse in relation to Lazarus. “Lord, the one You love, Lazarus, is sick.” Lucado posits that the power of prayer comes not from the love of those in need but from the love of the One hearing the request, Jesus. We are all the “one He loves.” Lucado goes on to say that “We can and must repeat the phrase in manifold ways. ‘The one You love is tired, sad, hungry, lonely, fearful, depressed.’” Lord, Hear our prayer.
Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings….
I know that I am a deeply loved child of God, but sometimes I have a difficult time truly FEELING His fierce love for me. The problem isn’t Him. It’s me. I get stuck in the “not enough” rut—I’m not smart enough, not good enough, not worthy enough, etc etc. And here is the amazing truth of Christ: I don’t have to measure up to some preconceived mark. He doesn’t love me because of what I can do for Him. He loves me because I am His, because He created me, because He knows me inside and out, all my idiosyncrasies. I am the one that He loves. And so are you. Lord, Let that truth penetrate our stubborn hearts.
Isaiah 49:16 See, I have written your name on the palms of My hands….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder of my worth to You. Thank You for all the quirks in my personality and for the people I can reach for You because of those quirks. Thank You for claiming each of us as “the one You love.” Help us to never lose sight of our worth IN You and our worth TO You. Draw us closer. Amen.
Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Have a blessed day.

2 Chron 20:15 …For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
My first year teaching was an eye-opening experience. I naively assumed that everyone had the same stable, slightly dysfunctional yet loving upbringing that I had. Over two decades of teaching has reinforced again and again that that is not always the case. Some of these kids endure things that I’m not convinced I’m strong enough to endure. And all I can do as their teacher is love and encourage them, try to be sure they recognize their own value and worth, support them in as many ways as possible. I can’t fight their battles for them.
Mark 12:30-31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul….You shall love your neighbor as yourself….”
And I’ve found as a parent that the same is true. Even when I can provide them a stable, slightly dysfunctional yet loving upbringing, they still have battles to face, battles I can’t fight for them. All I can do as their mother is love and encourage them, try to be sure they recognize their own value and worth, support them in as many ways as possible. I can’t fight their battles for them. 
Exodus 14:14 “The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the wisdom of this scripture. Thank You for helping me to clearly see what You are calling me to do—love and encourage others, try to be sure they recognize their own value and worth in You, support them in as many ways as possible. Thank You for the clarity to understand that I can’t fight their battles for them and that that’s not what You call me to do. Help me to love, support, and encourage Your people, Lord. Help me to show them Your love and grace. Draw us closer. Amen.
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.
Have a blessed day. 

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Lord, I am so incredibly thankful for the peace I have about this amazing journey the hubs and our oldest are on. I am thankful for the overwhelming peace I feel about their daily safety, our daily safety. I am a worrier by nature, Lord, as You well know, so I am absolutely certain that the peace I feel about all of this can only come from You. Thank You, Lord, so much, for blanketing me with Your peace for this hike.
Phil 4:5-6 …The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing….
Lord, I want to confess to You that I realize I am still allowing anxiety into my life—not about big things, but about lots of little, seemingly inconsequential things—like how I’m going to get everything graded in the time I have, how I’m going to have enough time to take care of the house and the dog and the youngest and myself, how I’m going to juggle all the little daily things that need doing. This anxiety is not from You, nor does it in any way help to advance Your kingdom, so I know it needs to go, Lord. Show me how to lay it down and breathe in Your grace instead.
2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for allowing me to understand that this anxiety is not from You, is not helpful or useful, and has no place in my life. Thank You for Your overwhelming peace about the big stuff going on in my life. Help me to give You all the little things that are continuing to trigger my anxiety, Lord. Exchange my anxiety for Your peace. Help me to abound in every good work for Your glory. Draw me closer. Amen.
Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Have a blessed day.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding….
I am a big fan of understanding things—why things work like they do, why they work out like they do. For me, understanding is often the first step to acceptance. But that is not the way of faith. Faith often for me is saying, “Lord, I do not get what is going on here AT ALL, but I know You love me. You’ve got me. You are in control. This makes utterly no sense to me, but it somehow fits into Your plan for me. I hate this, but I love You and I trust You.” This trust and acceptance has been a long road and is not easy, but God is good. Always.
Daniel 3:17-18 “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Of course, it is harder for me to trust Him when the path is dark and dangerous, terribly frightening, and heartrendingly sad, but He asks me to trust Him then, too. When answers won’t come, when everything is going wrong according to my plans, when loss upon loss upon loss adds up and the rain keeps beating down, it is so much harder to praise and trust, and yet, for me, there is no alternative. I believe in a loving, sovereign God. I believe in His goodness and mercy. And, therefore, I cling to Him, trust Him, praise Him, even when life makes utterly no sense.
Romans 8:37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for my faith, which has grown and matured with every blessing and heart break. Thank You for the ability to cling to You, to love You, to praise You, even when my heart is broken and I don’t understand. Thank You for being bigger and more sovereign than any pain and heartbreak of this world, for overcoming this world with Your love and mercy. Draw me closer. Amen.
1 John 5:4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
Have a blessed day.