Blogger and undiagnosed disease survivor, Katherine Smith, bubbles over with joy. How does she do that? Well, it’s a God-thing.
We chat about living with chronic illness (Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis and Adrenal Fatigue), life behind a face mask, and how our community can best support us during times of isolation.
Read MoreLisa grew up in a loving family in Utah, a sixth generation Mormon. She was so immersed in the Mormon culture, she didn’t even know what a protestant church service looked like.
Then, she met a guy… and the guy was a Christian… and he asked her questions like, “How do you know your scripture is the one true scripture?” She answered what she was taught and what she believed, “Because I’ve had a burning in the bosom.” That’s the truth test in Mormonism — a warm fuzzy feeling, proof of the Holy Spirit’s touch. Without that, you can’t know if something is true. With it, something must be true despite facts and logic. The answer didn’t satisfy her boyfriend and suddenly, it didn’t satisfy her either.
Out of Zion is Lisa’s personal story of finding the Jesus of the Bible. I couldn’t put this book down.
Read MoreAndrew Peterson is an author, singer-songwriter, and artist. He wrote Adorning the Dark as a biographical text on how to be a Christian Creative. But it’s a lot less, “How” and a whole lot more, “Here’s what you’ll learn along the way.”
I loved it. Like 5 STARS kind of love.
Peterson makes a very strong point that God created man in his image and since God is The Creator, his image-bearers must also be creative. We are all Creatives. And we are all meant to use our creativity, little or big, to glorify God in our little corner of the universe. What we create and the joy we get out of creating comes directly from understanding that we are beloved by God. Think about that, let it soak in, then do something to out of the overwhelm of being loved. That’s creating for the glory of God. Oh, it’s such a good point.
Read MoreThere is real delight in being able to say to my chronically ill friends, “This is hard and I’m sad you are going through it. God loves you and I’m with you. You are not alone.”
In this video conversation, I introduce you to my friend, Marissa, author of Loving Your Friend Through Cancer, and survivor or a rare cancer called Angiosarcoma. We talk about being moms with life-threatening illness.
Read MoreHave you heard or seen the hashtag #spoonies around social media? It’s a helpful label for those living with chronic illness and has an interesting history. But I’m not in love with it. I’ll tell you why.
Trusting in God’s sufficiency means looking for ways to glorify him within the circumstances we live in. It means not worrying about how many spoons we have, but focusing on the one most important spoon.
Read MoreAuthor Abby McDonald wrote Shift: Changing Our Focus to See the Presence of God for those of us who could use some help to see where and how God is working in our lives. Abby tells stories of how God has worked behind the scenes, sometimes years in advance, to bless friends in unexpected ways. She also tells stories of how God’s word shifted her perspective of her own life, showing her how deeply he loves her even when, or especially when, it appears no one else notices her presence or her work.
Abby weaves stories from the Bible into little lessons that inch us closer to the perspective God has when he looks at our lives. Each chapter ends with a few questions to ponder alone or in a small group. Those questions would make this book an excellent choice for a book club or small group Bible study.
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