Rejoice Always…Really?

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand Philippians 4:4-5 ESV It is a constant throbbing pain. Some days I “feel” every bone in my ankles, fingers, and wrists. It is exhausting and depressing. So when I come to Philippians 4:4…
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A Battle

A Battle By Angela Mackey They. People I trust and love People I hide from If THEY knew… If they knew what I thought If they realized what I have experienced THEY would call me names… Heretic. Foolish. Liar Progressive. Conservative. Wrong. Or would they? I do not know because I hide.
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Culpable?

Culpable? by Angela Mackey It happened before A leaving, a void, a rift   I see it. How it happened. Where we have been. Will they listen? Decisions tabled Waiting, flailing, languishing I see it. The coming storm. Will they listen? Do I dare? Bitterness whispers Tearing, ripping, wounding I see it. The anger roiling.…
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EnJOYing Election Season: Cultivating Joy in the Chaos

EnJOYing Election Season: Cultivating Joy in the Chaos

“Evangelicals for Harris” are all CHINOS — Christians In Name Only. God is not fooled. Neither should we be fooled. My Social Media feeds are full of vitriol…from both sides of the political divide. “How can any Christian vote for a convicted criminal, rapist, insurrectionist, etc.” And it grieves me. The Bible says that all…
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Art and Beauty: How to Embrace Beauty to Change Culture

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way… things I had no words for.” ― Georgia O’Keeffe Sometimes we forget that God created beauty. At least we evangelicals who value utilitarianism above beauty and art do. We forget that God is the original artist. He paints on canvases…
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A Reason to Go to Church: God’s Presence and Joy

“Silence is the perfectest herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much.”  Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare God does something special when His people come together as a congregation. When we sing, take communion, baptize people, listen to the preaching of God’s Word, His presence comes to us in a special…
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Joy and Presence

Just a note…I have missed sharing this space with you all. So through prayer and planning, my goal is to post here twice a month. I hope you are blessed. Where Joy is Found You [the LORD] reveal the path of life to me;in your presence is abundant joy;at your right hand are eternal pleasures. Psalm…
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Intimacy, Holiness, and Power

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?” Psalm 15:1 My heart echoes the cry of the psalmist. How do I get close to God? How do I develop a deep and abiding relationship? Can I move-in with God? What must I do so I can dwell with…
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Discipline and Missions

The word God gave me this year is discipline… I am flat out bad at it. I feel constrained by schedules and when I don’t accomplish tasks on the days I plan I chastise myself. But then I don’t plan my time and so I have a stack of things that need mended or a…
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God Did It – A Conference, A Call, and You

In case you didn’t know, last week I spoke at The M.O.M. Initiative’s Better Together Conference. Here are some pictures of the conference.   I flew on a plane to Jacksonville, Florida and met with 22 authors and speakers who shared break-out sessions and keynotes to several hundred women. It was a sweet time of…
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Grace-full Accountability…

We open our hearts to one another. Share the hard things. The stuff that we struggle with. The things that leave our souls raw. The things we know are not quite right, but are not sure how to change. Some of the raw places are of our own making and others are wounds caused by…
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Accountability…

Deep down that word makes me cringe. It makes the inner rebellious child in me stand up and say, “I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do.” It is hard for me to swallow the truth that I need help. The bottom line is that I like to think I have it all…
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My Sister…My Twin Sister.

35 years ago today, my twin sister and I were born! Yes I am that young 😉 I decided to celebrate with a photo montage of my sister and I. In most of the pictures I am on the LEFT (don’t know why I am younger by four minutes). We have great stories of knocking…
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How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

My eyes pricked with tears – tears seem to come frequently – as I choked out the words to the song. Grateful, humbling, overwhelming tears. The kind that come from deep joy, deep sorrow, and the awe of amazing grace. The joy that God would save me, the sorrow that my sin would cost Him…
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1,000 Gifts continued

“It’s my dun mommy,” his voice louder than necessary as he points to a plastic cap on his coat. “I shoot bad duys [guys].” “Shhh, it is OK to pretend to shoot bad guys, but we need to use our indoor voice,” I encourage and quietly pray no one heard him. He persists in describing…
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Saturdays are for…

Walking down memory lane… Yesterday L wanted to bring something that wasn’t hers to show-and-tell. Her sister E would NOT let her take the toy she wanted to take. So I let L take somethings from our (her daddy and my) wedding. A few pictures, two silk “flowers” that once held bird seed (that stuck…
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Mommy Nearly Failed…

The tears started to flow. I felt terrible. I had forgotten. The full parking lot told the story. TODAY WAS MOMS AND MUFFINS! The day when I am supposed to get up early and get the kids to school early so we can eat muffins or donuts and hang out together. I had completely forgotten.…
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Rethinking Rejoicing…

Well, I finally figured out my YouTube issue I had yesterday. So now you can see my vlog! Woo Hoo! Also I want to thank Julie Gillies for the tweet that inspired this vlog! httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdWY5eVySHA Can’t wait to hear what you think! Jump in and share!
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Three Empty Chairs

My blessings have been prodding and poking the painful places in my soul lately. As God is apt to do He uses their naivety to shed light on things I would prefer to leave in the dark. He shakes me awake through them as they open their hearts to me… “Mommy, I want another baby…
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1,000 Gifts Continued…

Yesterday I woke up in pain. Long story, but I got kicked (purely accidental) hard in the head while I was sleeping. So I ended up with essentially whip lash…I have had it twice due to car crashes…This kick brought it back. So I stood in our church service and felt like I may vomit…
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