In my job as a journalist, I have had the opportunity to write a some really neat articles. One about a little girl who celebrated her birthday by raising money for a Crisis Pregnancy Center. "I wanted to do it for all the kids that will never get a birthday," the little girl told me. One about a couple who have spent the last two years traveling the country on horseback while praying for our country and its leaders. And another of a couple who built a ship in their backyard with their own hands and plan to use it for mission work. My job has brought me a few really inspiring stories. I'm Continue Reading
How Our Pain Can Help Us Hit a Deeper Level
We were friends in high school. We hung out a few times, mostly at youth group, but otherwise we were in different groups of friends at school. We were surface friends. Until one day, we confessed to each other the struggles we were facing with staying pure in our relationships. We became accountability partners. Through that struggle, our friendship hit a much deeper level. We had been friends since 2nd grade. We laughed a lot and talked about boys. We wrote notes in classes and had sleepovers. We were best friends, but we were surface friends. Until senior year of high school, when we sat Continue Reading
Thank You For Being My Arm-Holder
There's one thing that really helped get me through my season of sorrow -- other than the hope I had in God and trusting that He would heal my broken heart and bring me a season of joy. Other than that, the one thing getting me through was the arm-holders in my life. I'm sure you are thinking, "What the heck is an arm-holder?" Well, let me tell you a little story. Back a long, long time ago, three men named Moses, Aaron and Hur climbed a big hill that was near a battlefield. On the battlefield was their other friend, Joshua, who was leading soldiers known as the Israelites into battle to Continue Reading
Have You Been Seeing Sunshine? (Giveaway)
We did it friends! We finally hit 100! Thank you so much to everyone who helped share the page to get us up to 100 Facebook fans. Your support means more than you'll know. Because of your help, you are now a part of my ministry -- Seeing Sunshine. So what exactly does Seeing Sunshine mean anyway? Let me explain ... Seeing Sunshine has two main meanings. The first is that in our times of darkness — when we're stuck in a depression or just having a bad day — it's up to us to see the sunshine of each day. It's about being positive and focusing on the good parts of each day, no matter how Continue Reading
A Special Prayer
As all of you know, or at least my American readers definitely know, a shooting took place recently inside a movie theater in Colorado. A 24-year-old man, James Holmes, shot and killed 12 people and injured at least 70 during his shooting spree inside the theater right before the new Batman movie started. My heart goes out to those people who were inside the theater that night, as well as to the families and friends of those who were tragically killed. I ask that we all take time to pray for those traumatized by the encounter, for those healing in the hospitals and for the loved ones of Continue Reading
Seasons Change
I told you this blog was a place for me to share my ups and downs with you, a place to tell of my sorrows and joys. So I want to tell you about the seasons I've been going through in life. At the beginning of 2012, I was in a season of sorrow. There were many aspects of my life that contributed to my sadness. 1. In December, a very important relationship of mine ended. It caused most of the sorrow I felt during this season. The memories seemed to haunt me and the "what if's" or "should have's" clouded my mind. It took a very long time to accept my new circumstances of singleness. And the Continue Reading
Special Delivery: How God Created You to be a Mailman
As much as you may think this blog is about me, it's actually all about you. See, God has given me this passion for writing and, depending on your opinion, a talent for it too. But He didn't give it to me for me. He gave me the passion and talent for you. Yeah, YOU! And you have passions, talents, skills, and gifts that were given to you for someone else too. God doesn't give us these things for ourselves. He gives them to us to use for His purpose and glory in order to further the Kingdom of Heaven. The Special Delivery Analogy God is the post office. We are merely the postage Continue Reading
Random Acts of Kindness Ideas
Are you looking for a way to bless others? A way to spend a day with friends, family, or your children? A friend and I recently spent a day performing random acts of kindness for strangers. It was a lot of fun, and we loved spreading the sunshine! Here's what we did throughout the day, and at the bottom of this post I'm sharing other random acts of kindness ideas. Our Random Acts of Kindness Day We woke up early to bake cookies and fill out post-it notes with encouraging messages or Bible verses. We then delivered the cookies to residents at a local nursing home. We visited with a few of Continue Reading
Living Happily Ever After
As a 20-something single woman, let me tell you something -- you don't need a prince to live happily ever after. I think being single for women can be difficult because of the lies we are constantly being fed. We are getting, "You need a man to be satisfied and fulfilled in life" shoved down our throats constantly. In any romantic movie ever and in basically every cartoon we watched as children, once the girl gets the guy -- end scene, fade to black, roll credits. "And they lived happily ever after." So to feel like what you really need in life is a prince to sweep you off your feet is Continue Reading
When You’re in a Drought: Let It Rain. Let It Pour.
If you live anywhere in the Midwest of America, you are probably experiencing a drought. At least where I live we are. The last time I remember having a real rain was about three months ago. So everything here is very dry, and the plants aren't growing much. In fact, I have a hay field right next to my house. The first time the farmers baled the hay from that field, they got 11 bales. They cut and baled it again this past week, and they only got one bale out of it. That's a huge difference. I'm sure it doesn't help that we've had temperatures in the 100's. Talk about hot! My county just Continue Reading
A Letter to Guys Everywhere
A Letter to the Guys Hi guys. It's time we talk about all the women you know in your life. You know all those pretty girls you know? Yeah, you know. You are picturing their cute faces and nicely sculpted bodies right now. Maybe you are thinking of one particular girl, or maybe you have quite a few in mind. Each and every one of those girls — all your female friends, your girlfriend, your dance partners, the girl you met the other night, and all the girls you'll meet in the future — are way more than just girls you've met. They are all first and foremost your sister in Christ. She is Continue Reading
Let’s Go For a Run
I lace up my Nike's, double-knotting them so they stay. I do some stretches and head out the door. I walk down the sidewalk, and as I come down the small hill I start my run. My feet hit the pavement as I take in my surroundings -- fresh baled hay on one side of the road and horses grazing in the pasture on the other. The sun is beginning to set and causes streaks of pinks and oranges in the western sky. The muscles in my legs ache as I listen to the birds whistling at me. I imagine them saying, "Keep going. You're doing great." I spot a bunny, and as I near it, I watch as it's white tail Continue Reading