Posts from 2024 (Page 12)

New-ish

I realize that we’ve already passed the halfway mark of this month, so maybe it feels silly to consider the new year when it’s more… new-ish now. But this specific reflection seems to keep surfacing for me and I’m wondering if it might also resonate with some of you as well!  As I had some conversations with my closest friends, we chatted a bit about our theme words for the year. I dunno about you, but in the past I’ll…

Listen. Just Listen

Last week, I had the opportunity to take Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training online. MHFA is quite similar to first aid, where you try to stablize/provide temporary relief to someone injured until help arrives, except you’re trying to help people with mental health challenges. This was my first time taking live online training, and I have to say that it was excellent. I had a great instructor who brought the course material to life and taugh us many useful…

Patient Endurance: Worship & Prayer

As I was studying Matthew 26, I felt like the Lord was highlighting 2 important aspects of Patient Endurance. The context and setting of this chapter is dark and dreary. It is the moments leading up to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is the Last Supper and over and over again, Jesus is telling his disciples that his life would be forfeit and that there is a traitor amongst them. In the midst of this great challenge, what did Jesus…

What Are Core Values?

Dear LifeSpring Family, Earlier this week, our group discussed lesson 12 in the Lead Well study series. The title of the lesson is What Are Core Values? From the lesson, it reminds us that:  Core values can be understood through a variety of images. They are like: I made the observation that we all are guided by our core values. Whether we articulate them, write them down, share them with others, are intentional about them, are conscious about them or not,…

New Year, New Challenge

Last Sunday, we had our first prayer and intercession meeting of 2024. As we just started fasting together as a church family in January, it seemed fitting to start the year off with prayer. We had 19 people join us for intercession, which definitely exceeded our expectations for the meeting as we had to keep expanding our circle of seats as people joined! This was the largest in-person intercession we’ve had since the pandemic, so it was great to start…

The Gift of Patient Endurance

The theme for this year, 2024, is Patient Endurance. I’m not gonna lie to you and say that I was excited to hear about this year’s journey. I’m not too sure what it will all entail but it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be easy, nor does it sound like it’s going to be fun. When I was thinking about patient endurance, I thought about an analogy of what patient endurance may look like. Imagine on Christmas day you…

Starting Strong vs. Starting Slow?

In a time where loads of people are making resolutions for themselves for the new year, I’ve been finding that it’s really life-giving to… not. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made plenty of resolutions in the past and have even managed to accomplish some of those goals over the years. I also have absolutely nothing wrong with people using the calendar new year to boost their journey of growth and self-improvement!! But this year, especially, I’m sensing a different focus…

It’s Not A Cost, It’s An Investment

A few days ago, I was working through university applications. Basically, you input your personal information, academic background, schools of choice, and supporting documents into the form. At the end, you get a summary of your application and fee. When I saw the fee, my heart skipped a beat. I’m not telling you what it was, but it was a LOT. I hadn’t even finished adding in all my university choices, and I was pretty sure that when I was…

Purpose 2023: Kingdom Parenting

When we talk about Kingdom Parenting we are trying to raise the huios (mature sons). Fully complete, lacking nothing. When we look at the ultimate mature son, Jesus Christ – we see a man who was raised and became a huios. He was one who did not just hear – He listened well and obeyed quickly. When we talk about Kingdom Parenting – it is not just biological children, it is the people God puts before us and care for.…