The romantic in me loves autumn. The melancholic in me needs a little bit of winter. The optimist in me thrives with the hopefulness of spring. But the child in me needs summer. Summer, oh summer. Summer is a dip in the deep end of a pool and the smell of fresh-cut grass on the…
When You Feel Like Giving Up
I felt like giving up when I heard the news of my husband’s cancer diagnosis almost three years ago. How would we go on? I didn’t want to walk through this. It was too much. And suffering never comes at the right time, does it? It’s true that hearing the “C” word is like being…
Ask Seek Knock
Editor’s Note: Today is the National Day of Prayer and we would love for you to join other believers all over the United States in praying for our families, our nation, and the world. We’re so thankful for God’s blessings and know that He hears us and responds when we pray. We hope you’ll join…
Joy Through Sorrow
The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. — Job 42:12 Job found his legacy through the grief he experienced. He was tried that his godliness might be confirmed and validated. In the same way, my troubles are intended to deepen my character and to clothe me in gifts I…
A Life of Endurance
Heavy weights, lifted fewer times in succession, produce greater strength. Lighter weights, lifted with more repetitions, produce greater endurance. Every morning when I’m home in San Diego, I go to a gym to work out with a trainer. His name is Todd Durkin, and he’s one of the best trainers in the country…
No Matter What Your Past Is… Run Your Race!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Hebrews 12:1 If you read my story in Undaunted, you know that I was left in a hospital, unnamed and…
Hold On to HOPE!
I’m a quitter. It comes way too easy for me to walk away from something that feels hard, whether it’s a gymnastics class, a friendship, or a diet. But as I mature and grow up, I’m learning that courage builds when I hang on. Listen. I’ve wanted to walk away from this career a lot. And I…
From Adversity to Greatness
[Be] confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. — Philippians 1:6 In Genesis 37, when Joseph was seventeen, he had a dream prophesying that he would someday rule over his brothers. This peek into his destiny filled him with self-confidence; he was…
Living with Joy
Joy Comes In the Morning His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. — Psalm 30:5 God of comfort, Giver of joy, I thank You for the favor You bestow on me, “favor [that] is for life.” Trouble in my…
Discipline
“I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline.” –Vincent Lombardi Discipline can mean different things to different people. To Lombardi, it meant hard work and sacrifice. Hard work isn’t just the number of hours invested or the blisters and bruises…