faith

May 3, 2023 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

Live the Life God’s Called You To {+ FREE Printable}

Are you ready to live the life God’s called you to? It might not be easy, but it is simple. If I were to ask 100 people to name one of the most influential women of the last 100 years, my guess is that Mother Teresa would be at the top of everyone’s list. This humble servant captured the world’s heart with the way she cared for the poor and was forgotten, but many people don’t realize the mission of a woman started with the prayers of a little girl.

Live the Life God’s Called You To

Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, “Agnes” grew up fascinated by the life of a missionary. I share this in my book Prayers That Changed History:

One Wednesday evening, she joined a group of preteen girls as they listened to a letter being read. It was from a local priest who’d left for the mission field in India. Tears filled Agnes’ eyes.

Agnes heard about the poverty and suffering of those in India. She listened as the letter told about the cruel caste system. The caste system meant that from birth there were those who would grow up only being allowed to work with garbage and human waste.

They could never get a better job, just because they were born into a certain family.

After the letter was read, Agnes turned to her friend, “Mary, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be a missionary? I want to help people and bring them God’s love.” At thirteen years old, Agnes knew she wanted to commit herself to God’s service in India, but her friends didn’t understand. Why wouldn’t she just stay in Skopje—where so many were in the need of the same thing?

When the meeting was over, Agnes slipped into the church to pray alone. “Lord, show me the way.” (Prayers that Changed History).

Agnes grew up and took her vows as a Catholic nun on May 14, 1937. She chose to be named after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries and went by the Spanish spelling Teresa. She started teaching school in Calcutta, but her mind and heart continually turned to the poverty surrounding her in Calcutta. She later left teaching to live amongst and care for the poor, and she gained attention for her work in 1969 after a short documentary film called Something Beautiful for God.

What I love about Mother Teresa’s story is that God called her as a young girl, and it’s a calling she clung to.

I’m no Mother Teresa, but I understand. In my early 20s, I felt a stirring to write articles and books, but I wasn’t sure if that was God’s plan for me. My friend Robin Jones Gunn encouraged me to look back at my life and take inventory of the passions that God put in my life at a young age. I grew up loving to read, and I spent a lot of time in the library. I loved books and stories. By looking back I discovered my truest self—who God called me to be. By looking back I understood my call going forward. God placed my love of story in my heart at a young age because He had big plans for me to use that for His glory.

Maybe you’re questioning your call. Here are a few things to consider as you seek to live the life that God’s called you to:

The Call on Your Life is Placed There by God

You made my whole being.
You formed me in my mother’s body.
I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know this very well.
You saw my bones being formed
as I took shape in my mother’s body.
When I was put together there,
you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
were written in your book
before I was one day old.

(Psalm 139: 13-16 ICB)

God designed you and has a plan for you. The closer you draw to Him, the more you’ll discover what His plan is.

The Call on Your Life is Your Own

1 Corinthians 7:17 (ESV) says, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him.”

It’s easy to compare ourselves with others. We believe that following God must look a certain way. We think that we must be called to a certain ministry or act the same way as a key Christian leader. But this shouldn’t be. There is only one Corrie Ten Boom, one St. Patrick, and one Mother Teresa. Instead, be the person God has called you to be. He has a plan for you.

The Call on Your Life Will Benefit Others

God does not give you a purpose and call to benefit yourself. Your unique gifts and talents aren’t to be used to make you rich or allow you to live in comfort. Instead, there’s a world that needs to be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ. Mother Teresa did not serve the poor to gain worldwide attention—although the attention she received furthered her cause. I don’t write to hit the best-seller’s list, I write to share the truth of Christ in ways that will impact people’s hearts—yet sometimes these messages cause the books to sell well.

1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) says, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”

If you’re using your gift and calling to benefit yourself more than others, you’re using it wrong.

The Call on Your Life Demands Faithfulness and Trustworthiness

There are many people who do great things. Mother Teresa isn’t the only one who has fed the poor and cared for the sick and dying. What stands out to us is that she did it in the name of Jesus, as a servant of Jesus.

So then, let us [who minister] be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards (trustees, administrators) of the mysteries of God [that He chooses to reveal]. In this case, moreover, it is required [as essential and demanded] of stewards that one be found faithful and trustworthy. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 AMP

One of the mysteries of God is that He desires to show His strength through our weakness. If we think we can handle things ourselves and we don’t need God we don’t truly understand His grace. We should be thankful for every time we fall flat on our faces or feel like giving up.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

It’s only when we are weak and needy that we realize that we need God. In light of eternity, those who have everything on earth and miss out on God have nothing.

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:3 (NLT)

Those who give the most to others need God the most. And when they need Him the most they turn to Him the most. And when they turn to Him the most they discover Him the most. Not only are the lives of others changed, but their lives are too.

Mother Teresa depended on God. Here is one of her prayers that I share in Prayers that Changed History:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread the fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and se no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to other. ~Mother Teresa

Live the Life God’s Called You To

Friend, God has a call on your life that will benefit others and will demand you to be faithful to Him. Yet He doesn’t place a call on you and send you off alone. He will be there every step of the way.

To live the life God’s called you to may be more difficult than you ever imagined, but you’ll discover God in new ways as you serve others in His name … just like Mother Teresa.

Click here to download the printable!

Go to the Book

Building Up Your Faith When Your World is Falling Apart

Beloved author and Bible teacher Michele Cushatt offers ten practices to strengthen your confidence in God’s daily presence and power and build a faith strong enough to endure even the toughest seasons.

Life can be hard. Although there are moments of beauty and goodness, more often than not, life is marked by fear, struggle, disappointment, and loss. And we don’t know what to do with it. We’ve tried to find hope and security in various people and places–but each has proved unworthy of our trust. We need more. Something–or Someone–who won’t fail us when our world falls apart.

In this book, beloved author and Bible teacher Michele Cushatt presents a better way. By exploring powerful personal, historical, and biblical stories of people of extraordinary faith, she curates and shares ten practices to help you deepen your confidence and certainty in the God who can be trusted with your worry, questions, confusion, and grief. As a woman who has been through immeasurable suffering, she writes with both deep compassion and practical insight as she guides you to:

Practice lament and process grief without guilt or shame

Understand what keeps you from trusting God and how to navigate doubt with truth

Learn simple ways to foster shalom and gratitude on a daily basis

Develop a fresh, eternal perspective that delivers both peace for today and hope for tomorrow

Savor daily “faith-builder” practices to strengthen your confidence in God’s love and purposes for you, no matter what happens

There is hope in your hardship and a God who is both with you and for you. These ten practices point the way to the only One you can truly trust, and ultimately, to a faith in him that will not fail.

Mentioned in this Episode

A Faith that Will Not Fail | Michele Cushatt
John 14:18
Zephaniah 3:17
Daily Bible Podcast
Relentless | Michele Cushatt

Connect with Michele Cushatt

Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Podcast

If you are enjoying the show, I have a quick favor to ask! If you haven’t yet hit the subscribe button and left a rating and a review on iTunes, please take a moment and do so! I love reading your reviews and it keeps the algorithms happy so new listeners can find the podcast as well!

July 29, 2022 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

When the Story That Brought You Shame Becomes Your Life-Impacting Testimony

Have you ever wanted to have a life-impacting testimony as a Christian? But maybe you felt that your story was only one full of guilt, shame, and mistakes? Today I want to tell you about how my story, which brought me great shame, actually became my life-impacting testimony.

When the Story That Brought You Shame Becomes Your Life-Impacting Testimony

It was a simple, Thursday Bible Study, in a small California town. I sat there with six young moms from my church. At the time John and I had been married three years, and we were the parents of a preschooler and a toddler. I’d dedicated my life to God when I was pregnant with Cory at age seventeen, and I prayed for a future husband. God had brought me John, who loved Cory as his own. And now we had a baby together.

Yet while everything looked happy on the inside, I carried within a deep chasm filled with pain, shame, and regret.

As I sat in that Bible Study, the other women talked about abortion. My chest grew tight, my heart pounded, and a large border grew in the pit of my stomach. I was certain they’d hate me if they knew that I’d had an abortion at age fifteen. Even though I looked as if I fit in with these church women, everything within me told me I didn’t. I mean, what about my testimony?

I certainly didn’t have a life-impacting testimony, in fact, I didn’t feel like I had a testimony at all!

Many years prior, I’d prayed and asked God to forgive me for my abortion, but I couldn’t forget … and I couldn’t forgive myself. I was acting the part, but I felt like a traitor. Looking back, I can easily spot the accusations and the lies. The enemy of my soul hissed that I didn’t belong–with God or these women. It didn’t take much to convince me that it was true. And so I sat silent as they talked, sitting face-to-face but feeling a sea of pain-blocking my friends from getting close. I had made bad decisions, and I’d carry the pain forever … or so I thought.

My life remodeled into a Life-Impacting Testimony

Just a few years later, I sat in another Bible Study. We were in Montana then, and I had three kids, all six and under. Tears streamed down my face, and lightness and joy flooded my heart. I had shared about my past and my sinful decisions, and these women embraced me. They cried with me. It wasn’t a different state or church that had changed things. It wasn’t different women that had made the difference … it was me. I finally had shared the truth of what I’d done, as painful as it was. They understood my pain because each of them had also made the decision to have an abortion. Confessing to each other, and seeking to accept God’s forgiveness, was something we were doing together. When I shared my story the chains of darkness that had held me captive released, giving me freedom. The story that had brought me shame had become my life-impacting testimony.

Each of us carries pain. Sometimes it’s due to our bad decisions. Sometimes it’d due to others’ bad decisions, And sometimes the pain is there because we live in a broken world and bad things happen to good people.

How the pain got there isn’t as important as what we choose to do with it. We can either live under pain, shame, and regret. Or we can choose to lift up our dilapidated hearts to Jesus and ask Him to do some remodeling work within our souls.

When we choose to seek healing, we’re not only doing it only for ourselves. Our families and friends benefit too. When we seek healing we’re choosing to offer our whole selves to God and to others.

What we can learn from Paul and Bathsheba

There are many examples of those in the Bible who allowed their lives to be remodeled by God. Paul was one of them. A former persecutor of Christians, he became a disciple and an evangelist. His “after” looked nothing like his “before.” Paul acknowledged his sin, but he also embraced his forgiveness. He didn’t carry his burden of shame. Instead, he used his story to remind others that God can forgive anyone and remodel anyone. Paul set himself up as proof.

Another person in the Bible that tugs at my heart is Bathsheba.

While many preachers have accused her of being a harlot, there is no evidence in God’s Word to that fact. What we do see is someone who was abused by a man in power, and who lost a husband and a child. None of this was in her control. If anyone had the right to live bitter and angry, it would have been her, yet when we see her years later Bathsheba is bold. She reminds her husband King David that he promised that their son Solomon would be king. And her son Solomon not only took the throne, but he was also the wisest king who ever lived. Bathsheba could have hidden herself away and got stuck her pain, who wouldn’t do that? Yet somewhere in the arch of her story, she began to see a new picture of what her future could be.

This wasn’t the life she’d chosen, but she trusted that God could bring good out of pain.

Walk it Out Podcast

Last week I released a podcast with Natalie Chambers Snapp, and we talked about Bathseba’s story … and how her story can apply to ours. Natalie’s book, The Bathsheba Battle, sheds new light on this familiar story, by telling it from this woman’s point of view.

The Bathsheba Battle- for your life-impacting tesimony

And, as she walks you through Bathsheba’s story, Natalie addresses some of the common responses to life’s disappointments, offering encouragement and practical help for sorting through suffering as well as moving forward on the healing journey.

I love this quote from Natalie’s book,

“When we keep our pain in the dark, we give the enemy the reigns. But when we surrender that pain in the light, we give the reigns to God.”

Sometimes the pain comes from our choices. Sometimes the pain comes from the choices of others or because this world is just stinking hard.

And this quote from Strong, Brave, Loved by Holley Gerth speaks directly to this too. (See, I told you I was reading this book during my morning quiet time!)

“And the enemy is not ourselves. There’s a reason we use the phrase “beating ourselves up.” When we think the problem is us, we become harsh toward our own hearts. But our primary battle isn’t against any person–including ourselves. And the lies we hear have the same sources as the first lie spoken to Eve in the Garden. If you are a woman in this world, you are at war. It is not optional. And while you may not go roaring into battle, at the very least you need to know basic spiritual self-defense.” –Holley Gerth

To have our life remodeled, we need to start by having our thoughts remodeled, remodeled with a foundation of God’s forgiveness, and remodeled with a shield of faith that combats the enemy’s lies. Is it time to allow God to remodel your heart and life? The answer to that question is … yes! You will never regret opening up your heart to Him.

But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Philippians 3:13

If you’re ready for some reconstruction, and to turn your shame into a life-impacting testimony, here are some of my posts to get you started.

To Read:

Part 1 and 2 of my abortion story:

How To Be Transparent

Learning To Face The Truth

If you question if God can still use you, and truly give you a life-impacting testimony I promise He can.

To Listen To:

Writers Wednesday

You can also read about how one of my friendships led me to become a writer. Yes, it is worth opening our hearts! If you haven’t seen it yet, Cindy’s Writer’s Desk post is not one to miss!

Most of all, I want to encourage you to share your truth. Feel free to reply to this email and write a note to me. I promise I’m the only one who reads it. Don’t let the enemy hold you in chains any longer.

Has this encouraged you in any way? I would love to hear your story.

~Tricia

These are some books I have written that might bless you as well:

My Life Unscripted

Young people (and old) learn the importance of “scripting” their own responses BEFORE challenging life-situations arise so they are able to think about, pray about, and consider how to face these situations before the scene begins. By contrasting real-life with TV or movies, teens will understand they don’t have to get caught up in the drama. My Life Unscripted

Praying For Your Future Husband

From when we were small girls, most of us dream of “The One,” our future husband. We think about what it would be like to be a bride. We wonder who that special guy is and when we’ll find him. The great news is that what you do now can make a difference in your life and the life of your future husband! Praying For Your Future Husband

Walk It Out

Women often pack their lives with family, friends, and faithful service, yet still end up feeling empty and unfulfilled. In Walk It Out, Tricia Goyer demonstrates to women that walking out the mandates of Scripture allows God to spark passion and mission within them. Walk It Out

Sewn With Joy

Can I work in a woman finding forgiveness into an Amish novel? Oh yes, I can. 😂Joy Miller wanted nothing more than to be a wife and mother—especially now that her relationship with Matthew Slagel, the bishop’s son, was deepening. But when a television crew rolls into Pinecraft, Florida, to film a new show about the Amish, tension threatens to rip apart their relationship…and the entire Amish community. Sewn With Joy

June 13, 2022 by Tricia Goyer 1 Comment

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

Is it time to reawaken your dreams, Mom? You don’t have to sacrifice the dreams of your heart. You can pursue the things God placed in your heart while serving Him and your family. I know, because I’ve done it, and you can too!

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

What dreams did you have as a child? Did you want to be an astronaut? A doctor? A marine biologist? While some of those dreams may have been inspired by popular movies (hello Free Willy!), we can look back at our childhood to discover some of our hidden talents and design. Have you ever considered these questions: Who did God design you to be? How well are you living that design?

Is it time to reawaken God’s dreams for you?

Let’s start by considering what you enjoyed during your earliest years. Who were you like as a child? What did you like to do? I was a library nerd. In fact, I discovered going to the library could be dangerous. Once I had checked out so many books at the library that I crashed because the books on my handlebars were so heavy!

Think back to when you were between the ages of 10 and 12. What did you love doing? What brought you true joy?

Here are some things I loved:

• Drawing.

I loved drawing. specifically drawing and naming my future family. I wanted eight kids: two boys and six girls. (God gave me three boys and seven girls!)

• Watching other families.

I remember one moment when I saw a large family at the beach playing together. There were kids in their twenties down to toddlers. I was drawn to their joy and relationship.

• Reading.

I loved going to the library and reading piles of books. Especially drawn to Little House on the Prairie books and books on Helen Keller.

• Spending time at my grandparents’ house.

One of my favorite things was sitting next to my grandpa and watching Lawrence Welk. Seeing my grandma cooking delicious food. Enjoying meals around the dinner table with the television off. Enjoying their organized and peaceful house.

• Being at church and feeling part of the church body.

I love feeling like the older people at church were my extended family. I loved how my Sunday School teacher cared about me.

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

The funny thing is that when I took the time to think about what I loved, I realized the things I was drawn to then are things I love now. I write books. I have a large family. My grandma lives with me, and I love serving in church.

Also, 2020 re-awakened my love for art and cooking. Painting and drawing are relaxing and give me a chance to breathe. I also love keeping a comfortable home and trying new recipes. True joy is found when my family is sitting around the dinner table. I love family time, togetherness, and seeing all ages interact.

I’ve realized over time that focusing on the things that brought me joy from my earliest ages is what brings me joy now because that’s part of who God made me to be. What about you? Are you living who God designed us to be? If not, here are some ways to do that.

1. Delight in your design.

Too often we look at what we’re NOT, and we forget to focus on who we ARE. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago,” (NLT).

And Psalm 100:3 says, “Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture,” (NLT).

Look at this we see that God’s will for our lives is living out the person He designed you to be.

2. Nix the lies that hold us back.

Lies such as, “I’m not smart enough,” or “I don’t have enough time to focus on things I like.” We may have made mistakes and believe we aren’t allowed to try again. We may believe that God has dreams for everyone else, except us.

What lies have held you back from who God designed you to be? It’s time to reawaken your heart. Take time to write down lies, and then combat them with God’s truth. Don’t listen to the negative thoughts that hold you back.

3. Depend on God.

If God designed you for a purpose, then know He is there to help. Job 33:4 says, “For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Just as God gave you life, He will breathe His inspiration into you.

Today you can fulfill God’s will when you dare to become the person God made you to be. Turn your heart to God and place yourself in His hands. Ask Him to reawaken your heart to the things He put there. Place your design into His hands, and ask Him to guide His steps. He will be faithful to do it!

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

Are you struggling to balance your dreams and your life as a wife and mom? I understand! That’s exactly why I wrote

Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom

Are you a work-from-home mom that feels stressed, overwhelmed, and overextended? Working moms are simultaneously raising kids, juggling a career, and taking care of family responsibilities. Some days can feel like Groundhog Day or an endless list of to-dos. Believe it or not, it’s not supposed to be this way. It is possible to create an environment that includes priority, structure, and balance.

Bestselling author, homeschooling mom, and work-from-home expert Tricia Goyer isn’t perfect, but she’s developed a system that works, and she shares all of her knowledge in Balanced: Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom. Inside you’ll find tips and strategies that actually work.

You’ll learn how to:

Create focus themes for your family
Prioritize your schedule
Use your job, so it also benefits your kids
Stop comparing yourself to other moms
Organize your home to fit your needs
Do the inner work, so you can truly understand what balance looks like

Balanced is perfect for Christian women of all ages. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new mom or a seasoned mom, women will discover a wealth of information in this resource.

If you’re looking for a simple how-to manual with outlines, or if you’re not willing to do the spiritual work to impact your life, then this book isn’t for you. But if you’re willing to learn from your mistakes, try a new balancing methodology, and trust in God, this self-help book will be a lifesaver for you!

This post originally appeared on The Better Mom.

May 30, 2022 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

The Power of Stories-Honoring Memorial Day

There is power in stories, I know because there are stories that have changed my life–I turned them into novels. These stories of bravery came from men and women who faced the horrors of war. When you read my historical fiction novels, I hope they give you a new understanding of the men who fought in World War II and their courage, honor, and sacrifice.

If you know a veteran, you can help keep their memories alive this Memorial Day by listening to their stories. Maybe it will change your life as well.

A Time To Remember

In 2000, I got my idea for what came to be my first historical novel, From Dust and Ashes. Wanting to know more about the stories of 23 men who liberated Mauthausen concentration camp, I contacted the 11th Armored Division who put me in touch with six of the veterans. These men then invited me to attend the 59th reunion of their division. I wasn’t expecting that at all. Although, I thought they’d point me to a good research book or allow me to interview them over the phone. I felt SO unworthy to meet with these men. Unfortunately, I knew very little about WWII, and I didn’t want my inexperience to show. Not to mention the $1000+ for airfare, hotels, rental car for a book I didn’t have a contract to write.

I urged a friend to go with me, and I’ve been so thankful we went. The men were caring and opened their hearts to me. They shared stories with me that they hadn’t shared with anyone before. They laughed, cried, took my hands, and thanked me for caring about their story. As I left, they hugged me and kissed my cheeks. I had changed their lives as well.

When it came to writing my novel, I wasn’t writing about fictional characters. I was writing pieces of Charlie’s story, bits of Arthur’s experiences. The memories that made LeRoy cry made it into my book. The snapshots that Tarmo carried around in his mind for 60 years transformed into scenes in my novel (and the novels to follow!).

I get many letters from readers who say that my novels come to life on the pages–that’s because the men’s experiences came to life to me as I looked into their eyes and saw glimpses of young heroes. Also, the following year I went to Europe and walked the streets of the SS housing with a man who’d been nine-years-old when the camp opened near his home. Again, I “saw” the story in his eyes as he shared–this time from someone on the outside.

There was an added benefit to this diligent research that I didn’t expect. After my second novel Night Song came out I received a letter from a veteran. He made a list of twenty minor research points that I’d gotten right, and then he asked, “One thing I didn’t understand was the faith element of this story. Can you tell me more about your faith in God?”

YES!

Because I had done the research, I’d was able to share about my Jesus with a veteran who has since passed away.

Reach out to a veteran today and listen to his or her story! #memorialday @triciagoyer

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The Power of Stories

Although many of the heroes I met have since passed away, their stories live on. LeRoy, who I mentioned above, had told me about opening the gates to the concentration camp at Mauthausen and seeing the masses of thin, skeletal figures. He also told me about an orchestra of prisoners who were playing the Star Spangled Banner for their liberators. Those prisoners survived because they were musicians and the Germans loved music.

That story became the inspiration for my novel Night Song.

A Night Song of Hope

Night Song tells the little-known, but true story of the orchestra started by prisoners in Hitler’s Mauthausen death camp. This courageous orchestra played the American national anthem as Allied troops arrived to liberate the camps.

Around the orchestra story, the fictional stories of a beautiful member of the Austrian resistance, the American GI who loves her, and a young prisoner who fakes his way into the camp orchestra in a desperate attempt to stay alive, are woven together.

Unforgettable Stories

Although many have since passed, these stories–and the men who lived them–will forever hold a part of my heart. Their responses to Night Song encouraged me that I had told a story that would help others to know the struggles and strengths of the brave men and women of The Greatest Generation.

“After nearly 60 years, I was transported back to Mauthausen, remembering the days when I delivered the daily ration of bread to the dying. The author has the uncanny knack of recreation, and I found myself remembering everything, including the smell.”
-Charlie White, 11th Armored Division Veteran

“Night Song is filled with many details that are exactly how they were during my military career. Though I am a compulsive reader of WWII, I learned things I did not know!”
-Wilfred “Mac” McCarty, 11th Armored Division Veteran

“Well researched and historically accurate! As a member of D-Troop, 41st Calvary Squadron, 11th Armored Division, whose men liberated Mauthausen, Gusen I and Gusen II Concentration Camps on May 5, 1945, I highly recommend this book.”
-Charles Torluccio

If you have a veteran in your life … today is the perfect day to reach out–to listen to his or her story. Don’t let the stories die, when you have a chance to make a difference.

To read some of their stories, click here.

Right now you can buy Night Song –and all my other historical fiction-– for 50% off using code: 50-50 and get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50! Hurry–sale ends 5/31!

May 13, 2022 by Pamela Black Leave a Comment

Help and Healing From Porn

Many need healing From Porn in the Czech Republic and, if you know me, you know that half of my heart is in there. From my first visit in 2000, I felt connected to the country in a way that I cannot explain. I have prayed for the Czech people since that time, and God has answered these prayers in amazing and unexpected ways. In addition to now having Czech family members, God has birthed an amazing ministry there to help people who are addicted to porn find freedom. How amazing is God?!

Pete Lupton is a director of an NGO in the Czech Republic called NePornu (“no to porn”). This organization focuses not only on raising awareness of the dangers of pornography, but also helps people struggling with porn addiction, their partners, parents, or church leaders. Please read Pete’s story and consider donating to this amazing ministry. Pete is a family friend, and I’m honored to know him! Every small gift can make a HUGE difference to men and women coming to freedom!

Help and Healing From Porn in the Czech Republic

TG: Pete, what led you to start the NePornu project?

I myself used to be addicted to porn. I come from a broken family with lots of issues including domestic violence and alcohol addiction. So when I discovered porn around the age of 11, I got hooked up pretty quickly, since it was a form of escape from the reality that I experienced at home.

Then I became a Christian at the age of 15 and realized that I am actually addicted to porn, so I tried to quit. But I felt really alone within the church and I was afraid to talk about this issue, so I kept on struggling myself for about 10 years.

When I finally got free, I also got the opportunity to start this project. And from the start, I knew that our main slogan has to be “You are not alone in this!”

TG: Ok, and what did actually help you get free from your addiction?

Well, I tried everything and nothing worked. Looking back I can see that the main problem was that I was trying to keep it a secret from everyone. And this may surprise you, but the breaking point actually happened after one of your seminars that you taught with your husband and that I attended with my wife here in the Czech Republic. You talked a lot about honesty in marriage, and so on the way back home I confessed to my wife that I was addicted to porn. So thank you for that!

Later, I started an accountability group with some men in our church, and that helped as well. Suddenly, all the things that didn’t work before started working. I limited my access to porn, I worked on recognizing my triggers, I started working on creating healthy habits, and so on. But since anonymity is considered one of the main problems behind porn addiction, being open about it with my wife and friends was the most important step towards freedom.

TG: How do you specifically help people addicted to porn?

Raising awareness is a big part of the process because many people are still not aware that one can develop an addiction to porn. So, we write articles, publish life stories of people struggling with this issue, and make podcasts.

We’ve also created a number of online courses for people addicted to porn on how to overcome the addiction. We also have an online course for spouses on how they can deal with the information that their partner is addicted to porn, and how they can possibly help them. We have an online course for church leaders on how to open this topic within the church.

For your readers, it might be especially interesting that we have an online course for parents on how to open this issue with their kids.

As for the help itself, we offer main online coaching through emails, and we are working on local support groups called Pornoholics Anonymous. Our main goal is to help the addicts be set free, and we try to accompany them on their journey towards freedom. Not to mention, that everything we do is free for our clients.

TG: As a NGO, what are your current needs?

We are always looking for new e-coaches (volunteers) that would help our clients, but they would have to speak Czech 🙂

However, as a NGO, we raise funds to cover everything that we do. The budget for this year is 66,000 USD, and we still need to raise about 20,000 USD to cover the whole budget. This also includes the process of translating Good Pictures, Bad Pictures books into Czech, which will help the parents to open this topic with their children.

If someone would like to support us, here are ways to do it:

Donate through JARON Ministries International (especially for US citizens)
Donate through Darujme (especially for EU citizens)
Donate directly to our Czech Bank account:
- IBAN: CZ27 2010 0000 0026 0174 5437
- BIC/SWIFT: FIOBCZPPXXX

Help and Healing From Porn in the Czech Republic

Thank you for taking the time to learn about what NePornu is doing in the Czech Republic to aid those who need help and healing from porn. Together, we can make a difference and bring the light of Christ to those struggling with porn addiction.

Also, want a wonderful way to connect with your spouse and foster healing? Download and print this Couples Bible Reading Plan.

April 12, 2022 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

These 5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath can help you refocus. The Sabbath is ordained by God as a gift and a blessing. So why don’t we receive it as such? If the Bible admonishes our rest, why aren’t we resting? Today, Marilyn Jansen shares how we can sit a spell with God and experience the Sabbath anew!

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

The seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.

EXODUS 20:10

My husband surprised me with a gas double oven a few years ago. The baker inside me danced a jig. I had visions of sheet pans full of cookies, roasting turkeys with all the fixins, and dozens of loaves of bread. It had five racks and two temperature zones and gleamed like a new penny.

Hot diggity dog!

Other women want shoes or spa treatments or new outfits. I want gadgets, appliances, and cookbooks. My kids complain that I have more gadgets than sense. The aebleskiver pan, pizzelle maker, and raclette would agree! A few of these gadgets take careful practice to use correctly. It is very important to read directions.

When the oven was installed, I immediately curled up with a cup of coffee and the manual. Amid the technical specs and directions for the steam self-cleaning option came information for using the Sabbath mode.

The oven has a Sabbath mode! During the Sabbath, or Shabbat, some Jewish people refrain from any kind of work. That means they cannot turn on the oven or the lights or touch any of the buttons. They take their day of rest seriously. To help the Jewish community stay true to their beliefs, many appliances offer this option.

The instructions for using the Sabbath mode require a whole page of explanation. It is very detailed. The instructions for the Sabbath in the Bible also take up a lot of space. The Old Testament repeats the requirement many times: The seventh day is holy (Genesis 2:3). Take a rest (Leviticus 16:31). Do no work (Exodus 20:10). And, “You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day” (Exodus 35:3, nkjv). That explains the Sabbath mode.

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

If the Bible admonishes our rest, why aren’t we resting? The oven has a mode, a setting, a predetermined way of behaving. Once set into motion, the programming takes over. Maybe that is what we need: A setting for rest. A predetermined behavior that we can’t turn off. A mode for following the Word of God.

Surely, if an oven can do it, we can. But how? How do we keep our sanity and keep the Sabbath in the middle of this very real, very demanding life? Although there are no magic solutions that fit every life, here are five ideas that might help.

1. If you have younger children, set aside a selection of toys that only come out on your Sabbath day.

Make sure these include toys that keep their attention longer than thirty seconds. When my kids were young this gave me time to enjoy a scone (try the James Earl Scone recipe in my book) and a cup of tea.

2. Pre-make or preorder food for the Sabbath.

You can do that a week or more ahead of time. During the week, when I am making a dinner our family, I often double it. I put one meal in the freezer. Then Saturday, I put that meal in the fridge to thaw. I throw it in the crockpot before church so I can nap Sunday afternoon. Napping is good for my soul—and everyone else’s.

3. Set your electronic devices to turn off at a certain time on the Sabbath and stay off for at least an hour or two.

Some routers can be set to shut down for certain hours. Or set a weekly alarm to remember to turn the internet off. I set alarms on my phone, tablet, and computer to turn things off because I’m the one who needs the extra push. Wordle is a temptress.

4. Start a Monday cleaning routine so you can let things slide a little on Sunday.

Or if you are like me, you might let them slide into Tuesday or Wednesday. Don’t obsess over picking up or doing dishes or whatever it is you feel pulled to do. It may take a little time to relax and let that go. Keep at it. Through prayer, meditation, or simply taking a bubble bath, you can retrain your brain to put rest first.

5. Get everyone in your household to participate in stress-reducing activities.

Maybe a journal or coloring book—a journal with wide lines or a coloring book and crayons for small kids, a diary with a lock or an adult coloring book for teens, a very masculine leather journal for men. Then set a timer and let everyone write, draw, color, paste, copy, or drool on their own book. It may only last five or ten minutes at first. But with practice and persistence, this time can become something the whole family will love.

And if you need something baked on the Sabbath, come on over, my oven has you covered.

Right now you can enter to win a copy of Come Sit a Spell!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

Marilyn Jansen has been writing and creating since she glued dandelions into her first book at age four. She is a budding photographer who takes way too many photos of seen but under-appreciated things. Because she has been an editor in Christian publishing since 1998, her haphazardly stacked collections of books threaten to take over her home. As co-owner of Nashville Cooks, Marilyn writes about Music City’s diverse food scene and contributes recipes inspired by those menus. She has three adult children and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Her book Come Sit a Spell takes you back to a time when people’s lives were real and raw, where folks lived lives full of love hard-worn. It gives readers that feeling of home that they often don’t realize they are looking for. Through her personal reflections on growing up in the Missouri Ozarks, she reminds us that God’s love comforts and guides us even when the pantry is empty. These stories, based on memories from three generations of kitchens, come fully baked with recipes that just about anyone can master, and ingredients that are staples in almost every cupboard. Come Sit a Spell is about people and food—not the glamorous kind, but the everyday, love-’em-with-all-you-got kind that is the foundation of country homes across America.

You can reach her at her website at www.marilynjansen.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dotcommom/, or at Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/dotcommom61/.

Soon to be at tiktok @marilynsjansen

April 4, 2022 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

Your Guide to Finding True Happiness

Today I’m sharing your guide to finding true happiness. If you’re anything like me, you’ve struggled with this. What is true happiness? Where does it come from? Let’s look at what God says about finding true happiness, friend.

What True Happiness Is and Is Not

Looking back at my childhood, I can’t say we were a happy family. My mom, stepdad, brother, and I co-existed. We rarely had family dinners around a table. Instead, dinner was served on the kitchen counter, and we sat in front of the television. Most of my family didn’t bother attending my science fair or seeing me cheer. It just wasn’t important. But, of course, that meant that I wasn’t important.

At the time, I believed that to be “happy,” I needed the attention and approval of others.

Finding True Happiness

I do remember a few fun family vacations. Once, my grandparents joined us. We went to the Ice Follies and the zoo, but those moments were like sparkling moments set among the mundane. It wasn’t until I was an adult with my children that I realized how different things could be. We enjoy family meals almost every night and spend time at the lake or going on evening walks. We serve in church together, which is a lot of fun.

Yet no family can be happy all of the time.

Our family has faced the deaths of loved ones, and we’ve had times of hardship and struggle. Yet, even then, we still have each other. My husband, kids, and I have an underlying contentment and connection—happiness even—during hard times. Realizing this, I began to understand that true happiness isn’t about what we have or do. True happiness is about where we are walking. Who we are walking with.

Do you want to know this type of happiness—a deeply settled feeling that tells you all is well, even during the chaos or pain of life?

Finding True Happiness

It wasn’t until I understood the truth about “happy” that I saw why things were different in my home than in the one I grew up with. True happiness stems from the internal, not the external, and it’s found throughout the Bible. Happy is translated as blessed, and the root is “to be straight.”

So to be truly happy is to get our hearts “straight” or “right” in the Lord.

“Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments,” we read in Psalm 112:1 (NRSV). The whole chapter is so beautiful I’m going to share it here:

Happy are those who fear the Lord,

who greatly delight in his commandments.

Their descendants will be mighty in the land;

the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are in their houses,

and their righteousness endures forever.

They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright;

they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.

It is well with those who deal generously and lend,

who conduct their affairs with justice.

For the righteous will never be moved;

they will be remembered forever.

They are not afraid of evil tidings;

their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.

Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid;

in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor;

their righteousness endures forever;

their horn is exalted in honor.

The wicked see it and are angry;

they gnash their teeth and melt away;

the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

Finding True Happiness

What is true happiness? To be truly happy is to get our hearts “straight” or “right” in the Lord, and then all good things stem from that.

If your heart longs to be happy, it’s time to turn to Jesus. With Him is true happiness is found.

Heart Happy shares how I went from hurting and struggling through chaos and disappointment to living in the abundance of joy Christ died to give me. I want the same for you, friend. That’s why I share from my heart about how He walked alongside me through my pain and helped me see that He was ready and willing and ABLE to handle all my fears and doubts. He could take all the crazy and heal my heart from the inside out, so I could smile again. And He wants to do the same for you.

Join me in finding your Heart Happy life today!

Looking for more on how to find true happiness?

In this talk with my friend Rebekah Hargraves we chat about her book Lies Moms Believe … and wow, there are a lot of them! And you know what? Those lies can keep us from finding true happiness in Christ! I know you’re going to love my conversation with Rebekah. We share the lies that we often have to dig out of our hearts.

Listen here https://triciagoyer.com/lies-moms-believe-and-how-to-refute-them/

January 31, 2022 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

The Next-level Journey for Storytellers

Today, I’m excited to share about The Next-level Journey for Storytellers–The Winter Creativity Summit for writers offered by Realm Makers. I attended the Realm Maker’s Conference in 2021 and I was amazed to find such an encouraging, tight-knit community of writers and mentors in the fantasy writing genre. As an author of over 80 books, I know that going the distance is hard. It takes the support of a team and the encouragement of a community to help you make it to the finish line. Let’s talk about how you can grow in community with the Winter Creativity Summit for writers.

The Next-level Journey for Storytellers

Getting started as a writer is one thing. Going the distance… something else entirely. Why do so few authors taste success? And of those who do, why do even less manage to stay creative over time?

This advanced gathering is crafted for the dedicated novelist who has done well… but knows that far more awaits. It’s also a chance for the not-yet-published writer to discover the best foundation for shaping stories and pursuing dreams of becoming a published author.

Allen Arnold created this brand new advanced course to propel serious authors and their stories to the next level. In this fast-paced, interactive summit, you’ll discover ways to:

step deeper into your creativity with the Creator
restore your heart and release your stress
experience exponential growth that keeps your creativity—and readers—buzzing
spot and defeat the blind spots that bog down your success
see your brand and approach to writing with new eyes
embrace your truer calling and maximize its potential

This unique event offers equal parts creative breakthrough and storyteller soul-care. It’s dedicated time to re-chart your future and renew your intimacy with God in the very things that make you come alive.

Visit retreat.realmmakers.com for complete details!

Check out this free webinar, from Realm Makers

Storyteller Soul Care, with Allen Arnold

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX9c0yQYLIA

January 12, 2022 by Pamela Black 5 Comments

Expert Advice Featuring Rachel Dodge + A Giveaway!

Welcome to our new feature: Expert Advice, where we feature the amazing experts from the Write That Book Club with Tricia Goyer! If you’ve ever wondered about the expert advice our leaders provide, now’s your chance to learn more about the group experts you can connect with as a member of Write That Book Club.

In this episode, we’re featuring Rachel Dodge. Rachel is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional: A Chapter-By-Chapter Companion for Kindred Spirits and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen.

Her newest book, The Little Women Devotional: A Chapter-by-Chapter Companion to Louisa May Alcott’s Beloved Classic, released December 1, 2021. Learn more about what Rachel brings to the table and be sure to stay tuned to the end of this post for a chance to enter to win a signed copy of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional: A Chapter-By-Chapter Companion for Kindred Spirits plus a bookmark and sticker!

December 2, 2021 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

7 Truths about Walking Out God’s Word

These 7 Truths about Walking Out God’s Word can help you find peace as you pursue God’s purpose in your life. I’ve learned that when I follow His ways I can rest knowing He holds my life in His hands. He is faithful, friend. He will give you the life you desire if you trust Him with the details. Let’s look at how we can do that.

7 Truths about Walking Out God’s Word

What God has accomplished through me always amazes people, as an author of 70 books, conference speaker, and mom of ten kids, they want to know how I do it all. Truthfully, I don’t do it all. There is a lot I say no to. But I’ve ended up where I am due to one determination. I’ve just committed to reading God’s Word and walking it out. When I take these steps to walk out God’s Word, He provides me with all I need to fulfill His call.

Twenty-eight years ago, I was a 17-year-old teen mom who committed her life to Jesus and dared to believe God could make something out of her life. Seeing the destructive path I was on, I dared to read God’s Word and do what it says. I talk about my journey in my newly released book Walk It Out: The Radical Result of Living God’s Word One Step At A Time, and here are a few things I’ve learned in the process:

1. God’s mandates are given for a reason.

Whether you realize it or not, God intended for us to do what the Bible says: take the gospel into all the world, care for the vulnerable, help the needy, tend to our most important relationships. These are guideposts that point us down the path of true living and eternal life.

For many years I assumed God’s will for my life was all about me. But as I actually did what the Bible said, I discovered there was a large world out there who needed Jesus, and God had a part for me to play. Yes, I found true living and eternal life for myself, but as I follow God’s mandates I was able to share God’s Good News with others who found true living and eternal life, too.

As we choose to walk out God’s desires for this world, we model for our children a better way to live. When we prayed and ask God what matters to Him, He will open our eyes to those around us who needed help and hope. And as we extend love to others, God’s love flows through us. When we allow Scripture’s mandates to direct our lives, we’ll discover a God-designed mission that will excite and delight us. Isn’t this the type of life we want to model for our kids?

As a young mom, I was asked to help start a crisis pregnancy center. I didn’t think I had time, but God reminded me of those who reached out to me when I was a teen mom, giving me hope. I started a weekly support group in 2000, and I’m still leading one today. My heart is full and I find great joy telling young women that they matter to God and that their children matter. Watching my passionate service, each of my adult children have discovered their own passions in varied and unique ministries. They reach out to others as they were shown.

3. Walking out God’s Word takes action.

It’s important to know God’s Word, but the time comes when God’s Spirit whispers, “Are you done learning about Me, and are you ready to connect with Me?” After we fill our minds with head knowledge, God wants us to place our feet on the ground and act. He wanted me to have a living faith that was undeniable to me and to all those He brought into my life. But the walking part is important. As James 1:22 says, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves,” (NLT).

4. To walk out what God’s Word we need to depend on Him.

“I used to ask God to help me,” said Hudson Taylor, humble missionary and founder of the China Inland Mission. “Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.”

These words resonate with me because God took me on the same journey from independence to dependence. I’ve never needed God so greatly as I do when I walk out His mandates. When I’ve cried to Him in desperation; I’ve turned to Him in prayer more than ever. And that’s exactly where He wants me—wants each of us—to be.

We want to walk out God’s directive to share with those in need, but we often don’t know what that looks like. Seeing all the needs can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s important to ask, “God what is the one thing You need me to do today?” Then, do that, knowing God will tell the next step as needed.

6. Our calling is to become more like Jesus.

What is God calling us to do? How is He asking us to help and love the poor or to care for lost sinners? We can see how God wants us to act by seeing how Jesus loved and cared for people. Our calling isn’t to a specific job or ministry. Our calling is to walk as Jesus did.

7. Know your steps of faith define your future.

Dare I say it? Sometimes we step out of God’s will for us today because we’re trying to figure out what He has planned for us tomorrow—for our future. But when we walk out God’s directives and take steps of self-sacrifice, love, service, and compassion, we will discover God’s purpose for our future, and our family’s future, because our faithful steps will lead us to it.

“Who we choose to become and how we choose to live every day creates a trajectory for everything else,” said author Jerry Sittser. “Perhaps that is why the Bible says so little about God’s will for tomorrow and so much about what we should do to fulfill his will today.”

For years I tried to figure out God’s will for my life, but as I followed God’s Word—one step after another—I found myself in the center of God’s will. All I’ve accomplished has resulted from faithful steps of doing what the Bible says. Of course, the greatest success isn’t what I’ve done, but who’ve I’ve become on this journey with God. And who my children have become as they’ve followed me.

faith

Live the Life God’s Called You To

They could never get a better job, just because they were born into a certain family.

What I love about Mother Teresa’s story is that God called her as a young girl, and it’s a calling she clung to.

Maybe you’re questioning your call. Here are a few things to consider as you seek to live the life that God’s called you to:

The Call on Your Life is Placed There by God

The Call on Your Life is Your Own

The Call on Your Life Will Benefit Others

1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) says, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”

If you’re using your gift and calling to benefit yourself more than others, you’re using it wrong.

The Call on Your Life Demands Faithfulness and Trustworthiness

2 Corinthians 12:9 says, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Those who give the most to others need God the most. And when they need Him the most they turn to Him the most. And when they turn to Him the most they discover Him the most. Not only are the lives of others changed, but their lives are too.

Live the Life God’s Called You To

More Posts About Prayers that Changed History:

Building Up Your Faith When Your World is Falling Apart

Mentioned in this Episode

Connect with Michele Cushatt

When the Story That Brought You Shame Becomes Your Life-Impacting Testimony

Yet while everything looked happy on the inside, I carried within a deep chasm filled with pain, shame, and regret.

I certainly didn’t have a life-impacting testimony, in fact, I didn’t feel like I had a testimony at all!

My life remodeled into a Life-Impacting Testimony

Each of us carries pain. Sometimes it’s due to our bad decisions. Sometimes it’d due to others’ bad decisions, And sometimes the pain is there because we live in a broken world and bad things happen to good people.

What we can learn from Paul and Bathsheba

Another person in the Bible that tugs at my heart is Bathsheba.

This wasn’t the life she’d chosen, but she trusted that God could bring good out of pain.

Walk it Out Podcast

Last week I released a podcast with Natalie Chambers Snapp, and we talked about Bathseba’s story … and how her story can apply to ours. Natalie’s book, The Bathsheba Battle, sheds new light on this familiar story, by telling it from this woman’s point of view.

“When we keep our pain in the dark, we give the enemy the reigns. But when we surrender that pain in the light, we give the reigns to God.”

But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Philippians 3:13

If you question if God can still use you, and truly give you a life-impacting testimony I promise He can.

Writers Wednesday

~Tricia

These are some books I have written that might bless you as well:

My Life Unscripted

Praying For Your Future Husband

Walk It Out

Sewn With Joy

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

Is it time to reawaken God’s dreams for you?

• Drawing.

• Watching other families.

• Reading.

• Spending time at my grandparents’ house.

• Being at church and feeling part of the church body.

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

1. Delight in your design.

2. Nix the lies that hold us back.

3. Depend on God.

Re-Awaken Your Dreams, Mom

You’ll learn how to:

A Time To Remember

Because I had done the research, I’d was able to share about my Jesus with a veteran who has since passed away.

The Power of Stories

A Night Song of Hope

Unforgettable Stories

Right now you can buy Night Song –and all my other historical fiction-– for 50% off using code: 50-50 and get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50! Hurry–sale ends 5/31!

Help and Healing From Porn in the Czech Republic

TG: Pete, what led you to start the NePornu project?

TG: Ok, and what did actually help you get free from your addiction?

TG: How do you specifically help people addicted to porn?

For your readers, it might be especially interesting that we have an online course for parents on how to open this issue with their kids.

TG: As a NGO, what are your current needs?

If someone would like to support us, here are ways to do it:

Help and Healing From Porn in the Czech Republic

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

EXODUS 20:10

Hot diggity dog!

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

Surely, if an oven can do it, we can. But how? How do we keep our sanity and keep the Sabbath in the middle of this very real, very demanding life? Although there are no magic solutions that fit every life, here are five ideas that might help.

1. If you have younger children, set aside a selection of toys that only come out on your Sabbath day.

2. Pre-make or preorder food for the Sabbath.

3. Set your electronic devices to turn off at a certain time on the Sabbath and stay off for at least an hour or two.

4. Start a Monday cleaning routine so you can let things slide a little on Sunday.

5. Get everyone in your household to participate in stress-reducing activities.

5 Ways to Keep Your Sanity on the Sabbath

What True Happiness Is and Is Not

At the time, I believed that to be “happy,” I needed the attention and approval of others.

Finding True Happiness

Yet no family can be happy all of the time.