December 1, Advent has begun, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, as they say. I am feeling especially happy and excited as I write this, albeit in November, but excited nonetheless. First of all, I’d like to point out that we have journaled 10 of God’s attributes thus far and have taken the entire month of November to practice gratitude for many of those attributes. In case you lost track, here’s what we have covered; our God is immutable, loving, sovereign, good, maje

First of all, sorry for leaving you all in the lurch last month with no journal plan introduction and no Wednesday’s words. I have been in a valley, desert, wilderness... whatever you want to call it, a space. It’s part of the reason I took August off from social media and from writing regularly. I thought I’d just bounce back into action but that proved a little more difficult than I thought. For the record, I’m ok, my family is ok, I’m just in it, as they say. One thing tha

Please use the following pdf for a printable plan of Our Generous God.

Hi everyone, I can’t believe I made it an entire month with no social media, sad but true. It was a good month and it showed me how much of a link there is between my screen time and my ability to stay focused during my quiet time. What was really wonderful was the ability to stay with the journaling verses for a longer period of time and to really hear the Lord as I wrote. I have to say my personal journaling was better than it’s been in years. And so it was during this time

Purity, ugh, are you having flashbacks to squeamish talks about sex in the church basement during youth group? I think that’s what most people think of first when this word comes up, even if you weren’t subjected to those uncomfortable youth group conversations. However, the Bible has a lot to say about purity and much of it has nothing to do with sexuality. To be pure, in the biblical sense, is to be sinless. Purity is defined as “an absence of blemish or stain, especially s

What does it mean to be truly wise? The older I’ve gotten the more I realize that to be wise is so much more than being smart. Being smart, according to Webster’s is, “having or showing a high degree of mental ability; witty, clever.” Wisdom, on the other hand, is defined as; the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships, insight; good sense, judgement. Synonyms are discretion and prudence. The first is just about knowing, the second is about discerning and the two

Next week we start a long overdue landscaping project at our home and I am so excited to get going. I’m excited to see the finished project but I know that a lot has to happen before I get to that day. Part of the preparation has been some devastation. We had three trees taken out last week, one a beautiful and beloved Dogwood, and as fate would have it, it was in the most glorious bloom of it’s history when it was cut down. Why would we cut down such a beautiful tree? Becau

Hi Everyone, I try to keep from re-using plans from the past unless they’re seasonal, like Advent and Lent. However, I am bringing back this one from January 2021 for two reasons; 1. I had foot surgery last Thursday and my plan was to read, and write and be very productive as I recovered. My body seems to have had a very different plan and this weekend has been rough to say the least. 2. Following goodness with God’s Majesty actually makes a lot of sense, and it helps to set

About half way through last months journal plan I was wondering what would be an appropriate attribute of God’s character to follow something as immense as sovereignty. And then I realized I had a song playing over and over again in my head, “Goodness of God” by Caleb and Kelsey. Sovereignty, we have seen, is supreme power, and in and of itself that is frightening. When we think back over history of people who have come to have supreme or unlimited power, it never ends well.

Divine Sovereignty: what exactly does that mean and how does it bring me comfort? Is it just an antiquated theological term or does it possess the power to meet my needs today? Let’s start by defining it- it’s Wednesday after all, and you can judge from there. Sovereignty is defined as “supreme power: freedom from external control: controlling influence.” To be sovereign is to be; “superlative (surpassing all others) in quality: of the most exalted kind: supreme: of an u

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Growing up Protestant I rarely considered Lent, other than to hear my Catholic friends bemoaning all of the fish they had to eat and the chocolate they were giving up. I considered myself lucky to be able to skip this age old church discipline. What I didn’t realize was that I was missing out on a particularly rich practice that would make Easter an even more spectacular day than I had ever known it could be. It all started

Six years ago I wrote my very first scripture journaling plan. My very first plan was written in February on the topic of God’s love for us. I wrote it after discovering scripture journaling on Pinterest during Advent. I enjoyed it so much I found another plan on Pinterest for January but then for February I decided to try writing my own. I was doing a Bible study with some friends and a couple of them seemed to really struggle with the love of God. They understood the law ve

It’s January 1, 2023! Does that get you excited or does it make you feel a little disappointed or sad? Maybe 2022 wasn’t what you had hoped or maybe it brought more pain and struggle than you anticipated. Perhaps some things changed for the better but some got much worse. Most years of our lives end up as a mixed bag of both I suppose.   I typically don’t love the whole New Years thing. We rarely go out and do much of anything and the whole experience feels like a let down of