Tag: unexpected

Ready For A Little Christmas?

I love Christmas.

But sometimes the Christmas story feels distant, removed from our everyday life. The star, the stable, the wise men, feel like they belong in our childhood, or in church plays, but have no bearing in “real” life. 

Every year, the Christmas season ends, the decorations are put away, and we turn our attention to the next thing.  But if we pack the peace and joy and wonder of Christmas in the attic with our decorations, we have missed Christmas altogether.   

It was for our after-Christmas life that Jesus came.  

You know, the normal days, where we meet deadlines, work, hang out with friends.  The days when we struggle to get out of bed and the days when we feel like things are coming together. All those days between the Christmas trees, decorations, and figuring out the perfect gifts to give. 

My devotional book, In Unexpected Ways, was written for those days.

These devotions were written during moments when my heart held more questions than answers. When I doubted God’s love for me, when I struggled through the murky waters of grief, when I let go of hope and discovered that the God of hope never let go of me.    

I wrote this book to show that there is hope, even in the middle of brokenness, to challenge the way we think about and respond to God, and to remind my readers that we were made for more than this world can ever offer.

Will you help me spread the word about my book?

I am building a launch team to get the word out about In Unexpected Ways. It will be a short launch, from July 11-August 3, but it will be filled with fun! There will be giveaways, videos, and simple Launch Team tasks (many take less than 30 seconds to complete). 

ALL Launch Team members will receive exclusive access to: 
✨ our Facebook group 
✨ fun Launch Team giveaways  
✨ a digital copy of In Unexpected Ways
✨Specially recorded audio songs  
 
PLUS: We will be giving away FREE audiobooks for Launch Team members who share their review during launch week.

 As a Launch Team member, you’re agreeing to: 

Purchase a copy of In Unexpected Ways
Be present and engaged in the Launch Team Facebook group. 
Spread the word on social media and in person with family and friends. 
Review the book on Amazon and Goodreads during Book Release Week. 

✨ The application form will close at 11:59pm EST on Tuesday, July 13th. 

Click here to apply and be on the lookout for my first launch team email on Sunday!

I do hope you’ll consider joining my team. I’d love to have you!

When Jesus Turns Things Upside Down


Jesus often said and did the unexpected.

He turned things upside down and left people perplexed.

When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, he was confident that he was in good standing with God.  The prevailing thought of the day was that riches proved that God was pleased with you. Add that to his rule-keeping, and he was practically guaranteed to inherit eternal life, right?

This man was trusting in what his religious culture said about his wealth.

And then Jesus asked him to give away the very thing that his trust was wrapped up in to the poor- the very people that he was certain God was not pleased with.

In one simple conversation “Jesus exposed in that man the thing that he treasured more than he treasured God.”

Jesus turned things upside down.

Nicodemus wasn’t confident he was in good standing with God, but he knew he was on the right path. He was, after all, a respected Pharisee.

And yet something in Jesus’ teachings led him to go to Jesus in secret.

In one statement, Jesus rocked the world Nicodemus had carefully built during a lifetime of serving the Lord.

Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The despair in his response leaps off the page.  How can a man be born when he is old?

Seeing the kingdom of God was the focus of Nicodemus’ entire life.

“What if Jesus had told Nicodemus,’You need to work harder and trust God more’? Nicodemus could have gone home and tried to do better. But Jesus was emptying Nicodemus of any hope he had of fixing himself.

One sentence emptied Nicodemus of all of his self-centered schemes for rightness with God.”

He spent his life seeking God, but his trust was in the seeking, not in God.

Jesus turned things upside down.

The Samaritan woman at the well knew she wasn’t favored by God. She definitely knew she didn’t have a chance of being right with God.

After all, she had messed up way too much, searching for a relationship that would make her feel loved. Everyone, including her, knew that for a fact.

And yet, when Jesus revealed that her hope in relationships would always leave her thirsty and pointed her toward Himself, she recognized her need for Him.

When Jesus turned things upside down for her, she saw that things were finally right.

Jesus turned things upside down for these three to reveal that what they were trusting in could never fully satisfy. He poked holes in their false hopes so they could see that their need of Him, the source of lasting Hope.

And He does the same for us.

Sometimes we are the young ruler trusting in social status or rule-keeping.

Other times we are Nicodemus, hoping that our service to God, our sacrifice, our theological knowledge will make us complete.

And, more often than not, we are the Samaritan woman, hoping to find love and a sense of worth through relationships.

Jesus loves us too much to let us keep searching for fulfillment in things and people. He turns things upside down so that we can see Him clearly, run to Him readily, and find what we are searching for in Him.

Words in italics are from the workbook Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically by John Snyder. Used with permission.

Those Walking in Darkness Need the Light

The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. (Isaiah 9:2) 

Darkness pressed down like a heavy coat, swallowing everyone in the cave. For one minute we stood in complete darkness and silence. Even though my husband was standing right beside me, within seconds the first fearful thought popped into my head.  

I am alone. 

Of course, I wasn’t. I was surrounded on every side by members of our group as we toured Mammoth Cave.  

But in the darkness, I felt alone. Trapped. 

Within seconds scenes from every murder-mystery I’d ever seen or read came to mind. I thought about the others in the group. Who are these people? I don’t even know them. I tightened my grip on my backpack straps and distrust rose in my heart. 

Thankfully the minute passed, our tour guides turned their lanterns back on, everyone laughed, breathed a sigh of relief, and we went on with the remainder of our 14-mile tour.  

It took less than a minute for fear to surface when I was standing in literal darkness. And that makes me wonder: 

Does fear surface in any type of darkness? 

What about the people all around us who are walking in figurative darkness? Searching for fulfilment, purpose, peace, and happiness without any light. Surrounded by fear and distrust without hope of rescue. Or so they believe.

But we know that light shines in the darkness. And we know the Light of the World who came to rescue us, the One who came to be our hope. 

Light broke through deepest darkness when God put on flesh and stepped into our world. He came as a tiny light, wrapped in the most vulnerable package. 

He came in a way that we could receive Him.  

If He had come like He did on Mount Sinai; we might have turned away in fear. In Exodus, the people were told to get ready, get clean, and not to touch the mountain or they would die.  In contrast, Jesus came on a dark night, in a dirty stable, and only a few knew the Light had come. 

Jesus came to show us what God is like, how deeply He loves us, and how we can follow Him. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. As the Word, He brought thoughts from the innermost recesses of people’s hearts out into the light. He was gentle with those who were struggling, patient with those who didn’t even know they needed Him until He spoke to them. He challenged those who thought they had Him all figured out. 

Jesus saw people living in figurative darkness and it moved him. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)  

Maybe they were tossed around by fear, suspicion, and distrust. Maybe they were seeking fulfilment, purpose, and peace in things that could never deliver. Maybe they felt trapped, like they would never be free from the darkness. 

And He told them Whoever follows me will have the light of life. (John 8:12) 

The light of life He offers shines brighter than a tour guide’s lantern and points us to the answer our hearts were made to search for – One who loves us beyond all measure. One who is always with us. One who shines light in the darkest places of our lives. 

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We celebrate the coming of the Light of the world at Christmas, but we need this truth every day of the year. Discover the themes of Christmas in everyday life through my newly released book of short devotions In Unexpected Ways: Christmas in Everyday Life.