I have attended church worship services all my life. Growing up it was expected. When I went away to college, got married and started raising our family, it was a choice. But when my husband went into ministry, and a few years later I followed him, it again became a required activity.  Through this journey, I have become more aware of my feelings toward community worship. What I’ve discovered is that attending – and fully participating – is a pivotal part of my week; a necessary and significant foundational piece to my spiritual life.  Most of the time, I don’t feel it as a burden or duty. I love being with the people and with God. But there have been times when I’ve struggled to find joy in worship. For example… ~~ Several years ago, I was feeling distant from God and feeling a little lost in life. I really didn’t want to praise the Lord, but would have preferred to stay home and nurse my distress. For a number of weeks, though, I came anyway. I sang the songs, I tried to be ho

My guest blogger this week, once again, is Betsy Ridgway. Her story is one of deep faith; a faith that has sustained her through a major health crisis, multiple miscarriages, wrestling with doubt, adoption issues with her kids, her son's cancer and special needs issues...and more. Her journey is the inspiration for her website and upcoming book, "The Song of My Hope."  Learn more at:  www.Sparklinghope.net Music and its many benefits have been woven into the fabric of my life. Sunday mornings from my childhood overflow with memories of my mom's sweet humming as she prepared our after-church meal. I believe this was my first "music appreciation" class!  In fourth grade our summer school class learned to play the song flute. The plastic instrument produced harsh notes at first while eventually blending into soft, chirping songs. I was hooked on music. I was fortunate to be blessed with piano lessons from a neighbor, learning to plunk out tunes wit

My guest blogger this week is my dear friend, Connie McDonald. She is an inspirational author, and creativity encourager who is passionate about living live with joy, color and fun. You can learn more about her, her books, and the classes she offers at www.paxsonhouse.com As long as you look at something the same way, you will get the same feeling or results.  As soon as you try on a different way of looking at something, the sooner you will experience different feelings, responses, and more freedom. This sounds self-evident and noble and wise, until you are gripped in the vice of a repetitive, negative emotionally stuck viewpoint.  Let me give you some practical examples of how this has played out recently in my own life. The other day I found myself commenting/complaining that the reason I didn’t sew was because of my middle school, home-economics project fiasco. My reaction was in response to a traumatizing experience during my first attempt to sew a zipper in a dress

A decade ago, my husband and I voluntarily resigned from our pastoral positions on a church staff to enter a deliberate season of sabbatical and waiting. It was clear that we were to wait on God until He revealed His next steps in our lives. We had no idea how long this season would last…it turned out to be 15 months. We knew that our lack of a consistent church-family connection put us at risk emotionally, relationally, and spiritually, so we established an accountability group. We met monthly with five Christian couples who knew us well. We kept them informed of our activities and solicited their advice about major decisions we were making. A big part of each meeting included prayers of thankfulness from the group on our behalf, as they helped us notice the many ways God was preparing us for what might come next. In the midst of this season of uncertainty…in a time when the future looked very murky and it would have been easy to be overwhelmed by anxiety…they reminded us of the p

A few years ago I watched an old Western, and in one scene the “good guys” were caught off guard by the “bad guys”. The good guys were going about their normal business, unaware that the bad guys were sneaking up on them. The good guys were relaxed, confident, and feeling secure…but only because they did not know that the enemy already was stealthily infiltrating their perimeter and surrounding them.  The bad guys found great hiding spots and were able to capitalize on weaknesses and exposure of the good guys. As a result, when the shooting started, the good guys were unprepared. They were disorganized and their attention was divided by an enemy who attacked on multiple fronts. As I watched, I wanted to yell at the good guys to look out, to see the danger that was around the corner, to trust the voice of their leader, and not succumb to fear and confusion.  And yet – in my own life – I find that the same thing can happen to me when I’m not prepared for spiritual attacks by t