InstaEncouragements Blog

The Power Within: Are We Helpless Against Temptation?

3/13/2020

This is not the start of another self-help book. I’m not trying to tell girls to wash their faces or trying to empower women to reach their goals and fulfill their dreams.

Goals and dreams are nice. They are a big part of what makes us human. We are creatures bearing God’s image, and we are never satisfied to stay the same. We are always striving to grow. We want the next promotion at work, the next baby to make our family complete, the next financial milestone to be reached. Our goals and dreams can be very good things.

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From Tongue Up to Tongue Down and All the Heartache in Between

2/14/2020

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From Tongue Up to Tongue Down and All the Heartache in Between

Sometimes I feel like my tongue has a mind of its own. No matter what truth about God I’m meditating on that day, or how much grace I have to be thankful for in my own life that week, I always find it monstrously difficult to hold my tongue still when people and circumstances give it an opportunity to dance. After all, I’m entitled to my opinions. Expressing what I know and feel about other people falls under free speech, right? It can be so liberating—so gratifying to allow my words to flow uninhibited.

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“Are We There Yet?” The Question God’s Children Need to Stop Asking

1/17/2020

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“Are We There Yet?” The Question God’s Children Need to Stop Asking

This past Christmas, my husband and I traveled for 15 hours in a car with my 3-year-old nephew, Jackson. The repetition of all variations of the phrase “are we there yet?” still rings in my brain. Parents of young children laugh at how often their kids ask this question. Only now do I realize that they’re laughing to avoid tears.

In a way, the question “are we there yet?” defines the perspective of a child. If they aren’t wishing away the hours of a road trip, they’re wishing away the days until summer begins, the months until Christmas, or the years until they can move away from home. That all-encompassing desire for the next “big thing” in life fuels a child’s excitement. Lately, I’ve been wondering if any of us really outgrow this mindset.

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