Walking in Kindness
All the holiday hustle and bustle is in full swing at the Iams household. I set a goal this advent to be very intentional about prayer and reflection, preparing my heart during this season. Of course that didn’t mean I was letting go of the decorating, shopping, baking, moving the Shepherd, (like the elf on the shelf) class Christmas party, school Christmas shop, traditions…are you tired yet?? Me too! I wanted to be able to do both with excellence. I felt like I was managing all the things well until . . .
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Even in This
I don’t know what your year has been like. Maybe it’s been filled with blessings beyond what you could imagine. Or maybe it’s been one of your hardest yet. Most of us live somewhere in between—grateful, even when tired; hopeful, even when worn.
Here’s what I do know: God never left. Not for a moment. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
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WAKE UP: Today Is a Gift
Each day God gives us is a gift . . . Not random. Not ordinary. Not guaranteed.
A gift, hand-selected by the Creator of the universe and entrusted to you.
So, the question becomes:
What am I doing with the gift my Father placed in my hands today?
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Reflections from a Mother of the Groom
As I write this, we are less than two weeks away from my son Jacob and Lilly’s wedding. I’m writing between moments of helping him pack up his room and move into their new apartment, and it has given me time to reflect on God’s goodness on all He has done and all the things I am grateful for. These are the treasures tucked inside my heart, and today, I want to share them with you.
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Girl, Relax - God’s Got This.
Life has a way of throwing turns, detours, and unexpected stops on the road to our promise. We all have something we’re believing for and yet, the process rarely looks like what we pictured. But that’s exactly where God’s grace meets us. His grace is sufficient, not barely enough, but more than enough to help us thrive through every season, even the hard ones.
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…Despite Evil, There is God.
If you have scrolled social media or watched the news in the last month, you may be feeling like evil is louder than good. I know I have gone through a spectrum of feelings while wrestling with God about all of the information being thrown at us. I felt this phrase drop into my spirit: “despite prayer there is evil, but despite evil, there is God.”
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The Only Applause That Matters
When you’re raising kids, the days can feel long, but the years seem to fly by, don’t they? One moment we’re rocking them to sleep and teaching them their ABCs, and the next they’re growing into little people with their own unique interests, gifts, and passions. As they begin to chase those passions, the world will try to tempt them to measure their worth by achievements, applause, or trophies which are things that don’t ultimately matter in God’s Kingdom. Instead, I want to raise kids who live for an Audience of One.
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Asking God the Hard Questions
Do anyone else’s kids ask them five hundred questions a day or is it just me? I’m sure I’m not the only one. Mine pepper them throughout the day but they always seem to ramp them up when I’m in the middle of doing something else, like making their lunches or trying to get them ready for bed. Sometimes they’re thought-provoking questions; others are repeated daily like clockwork.
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The Beauty of Right Now
As I sit here writing this, I’m putting my son to bed. If I’m being honest, sometimes I feel a tug of anxiety when bedtime stretches longer than I’d planned and I still have a laundry list of things waiting for me. Then, just as I’m about to get impatient, my little one whispers, “I love you, Mama,” or “Today was so much fun,” and asks for one more hug and kiss. And just like that, I’m snapped back into reality.
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Fall Rhythms
There's something so swift about the shift from summer to fall. One morning, I step outside and realize the air is cooler, the sun sets a little earlier, and suddenly it's not just a change of season, but an invitation from God to step into new rhythms.
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Letting Go
Our family of six capped off our summer with the trip to Myrtle Beach with my side of the family. All 21 of us, 13 grandkids and 8 adults, living together for the week is equal parts fun and loud! One afternoon as I sat on the beach, holding our youngest, and watching our oldest play in the waves with his older cousins, I found myself a nervous wreck
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Closer Than You Think
Let me ask you a question — one that goes deeper than most people ever dare to ask out loud:
When life falls apart…
When the noise gets louder…
When the valley feels darker than ever…
Do you really believe God is close?
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What I’ve Learned about Rest
Sometimes we can get caught in the cycle of busy. We can get caught up in doing rather than being. Our minds can be in a million places other than where we currently are. We wear busyness like a badge of honor. There were seasons that if I wasn't running from one thing to the next, if my calendar wasn't full, if I didn't fall into bed completely drained at the end of the day… I didn't feel like I was doing enough.
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Wait . . . What?
Waiting matters.
Waiting matters to God.
You’ve probably heard it said, “God answers prayers in three ways: Yes, No, or Not yet.”
If you’re anything like me, the “Not yet” can be the hardest answer at times. As I write this, I find myself in a season of waiting once again. And while I know God is working, the waiting can feel frustrating, daunting, and at times deeply discouraging. It’s a battle of the mind and a fight to keep believing. Honestly, some days feel like I’m walking through a thick fog that requires me to seek the Lord minute by minute, hour by hour.
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When you Don’t Feel Like Enough . . . Say Yes Anyway
Do you ever struggle with feeling like you’re just… not enough?
Like there’s nothing particularly special about you?
Like, how could God really use someone like me, anyway?
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The Secret to Suddenly
In the Bible, we see “suddenly” moments often:
Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven (Acts 2:2)
Suddenly, an angel appeared (Luke 2:13)
Suddenly, the chains fell off (Acts 12:7)
But here’s the truth. What looks sudden to others was birthed in secret seasons of quiet faith, daily obedience, and unseen perseverance.
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Lessons from Ants
A couple of summers ago, I had one of those little moments where God opened my eyes. I was looking for bugs outside with my kids when we lifted a big rock, and underneath were hundreds of ants and tiny white eggs.
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Making Room for God to Move
I’ve had a hummingbird feeder sitting in my gardening shed for the past couple of years. I love watching the birds out my kitchen window, feasting on the seed we fill our large feeder with, and have fond memories of our hummingbird feeder as a kid. I can remember helping mix up the sugar water, adding the red food coloring to attract the tiny birds, and then watching them appear out of nowhere, drawn like moths to a flame. They’d flit around the feeder, wings a blur, drinking their fill before flying off. After a few rare sightings in our yard over the years, I decided it was time to get my own feeder, so I went to Lowes and purchased a pretty one made of red glass. Then onto the shelf it went . . .
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Sanctification: The Whole Point
If you’ve spent any time on social media lately (which is to say, accidentally scrolling for 45 minutes when you meant to just check one notification), you might have come across a trending phrase: “I almost forgot this is the whole point.”
As I scrolled one day, I came across an example of this quip that read, “I almost forgot that sanctification is the whole point.”
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Spring is Coming
We made it! It’s finally spring! What felt like the longest, harshest winter Western PA has seen in years has ended, and we enter a new season.
Nature is becoming colorful, and the sounds of birds singing signal that spring is here!
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