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One of the names of God is El Simchah Giyli, and it means “God My Exceeding Joy.” The (Hebrew) words “simchah” and “giyl “mean “gladness,” “pleasure,” and “great joy.” When used, it is the same as calling God “your ecstatic joy”! Don’t you love...

Meditating on verses like Psalm 46:1-2 can calm your anxious heart. It is too easy to focus on the turmoil and forget about God’s part in it all. This verse helps shift our focus and puts it right back on the One who is in control of it all. He is...

No matter what I do to try and keep my outward appearance looking young, there really is nothing I can do to stop the aging process. One day it will catch up to me. I will eventually look old. I will eventually get sick and die. We cannot escape...

Mom survival mode can begin when you bring your newborn home, but now that my children are both grown and married, I see that there is still an element of survival mode that stays with you in the empty nest years. You see, the empty nest years are...

I learned that it is okay to "complain" to God and tell him all that I was feeling and why I felt the way I did. I learned that it was okay to tell him I was tired and that I did not think I could persevere any longer. There was something about...

Waiting for something that has been your deepest heart longing and desire can be exceedingly difficult, can’t it? Especially when it is a “blind” waiting – a time when you really have no idea what to expect or if you will ever see your desire...

Will the sadness we feel because of the hard things we are facing go away? Not always. But we can have biblical joy amid difficult circumstances. We can find encouragement when we remember that the longest this trial (or any trial) can last is a...

God has designated a season for everything we experience in life, and growing and raising a family is one of those things. We know this, but it can be very difficult when the seasons change. Especially the empty nest season. Change is hard. It...

One of the most important things I have learned is that it is so helpful for me to spend time in prayer, asking God for specific things as I walk through life’s changes. I have learned to ask God to give me his peace as I approach the change, for...

Yes, it is a privilege and a gift to be entrusted with a new life, but it is a huge transition and adjustment that comes with a mixed bag of emotions, and there are times when a mom needs to know how to fight for joy.

The Christmas season can be a struggle because the stark realities of life don’t take a holiday break! But we can tune in to the beautiful Christmas hymns we sing yearly and be reminded that we can have JOY! There are days I do have to fight to...

Christmas is a time for the faithful to gather around the manger and allow our hearts to fill, and burst, with joy when we remember why Christ came. The familiar Christmas hymn, "O Come, All Ye Faithful," draws us into the Christmas story...

In the hymn “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” we see lyrics to meditate on that can cause joy to rise up within your heart even when we are facing painful family relationships.

Friend, we can surrender our lives and our days to God, along with our deepest desires that He is already aware of, and have confidence that we will never be disappointed. If we choose to say, “…my expectation is from Him.” We can experience...

our heartbreak will not last forever. Yes, it will fade while we are still living, but we have a greater hope! We know there is a day coming when there will be no more tears, death, mourning, crying, pain, or heartbreak. All those things will have...

Even if a family member has sinned against us and hasn't been able to admit it, it is crucial that we process through all that has happened and eventually come to the point where we can forgive them, even if they don't ask for forgiveness. That...

It's humbling to be weak physically, to be seen as weak, and to be seen as someone who needs help. Being in this position has exposed things in my heart that I didn't realize had somewhat of a stronghold on me. I don't like to be seen as weak or...

We believe that nothing happens by chance and that we can learn from everything God allows us to go through. As time has passed, we have been able to see that being misunderstood and even judged was allowed to happen and has been used to make us...

As hard as we try, it is impossible to be a perfect parent. We are going to sin against our children in some way. We are continuing to grow and mature as we raise them, and they will see our weaknesses and our sin. We can rest in the fact that God...

Inevitably, all of us will eventually suffer unjust treatment. We will be treated unfairly, be misunderstood, and our motives will be misinterpreted and questioned. We are responsible for ourselves and the condition of our own hearts before God....