“Morning Times, Nursery Rhymes, and My Journey Towards Sanctification.” Motherhood is sanctifying, and Cindy Rollins displays this through stories of laughter, tears, and celebration.

A year of living in on-going house renovations, seeing rooms completed one piece at a time, I have learned not only patience but a lot about sanctification. In many ways this little house is much like my heart, and yours too. 

Has life not turned out the way you dreamed? Maybe you thought you would have a growing family with babies and toddlers in tow—but your arms remain empty. Perhaps you saw yourself going out on double dates with your married friends by now—yet you’re the only one who is still single. This piece is for those whose dreams have yet to come true.

Shortly after I became a believer, I still lived by my feelings rather than my faith. I doubted my salvation because it didn’t feel real. Do you live by your feelings? Do you live in a similar way that I did? If so, we need to consider what God’s Word has to say about our feelings, and what living by faith actually looks like.

Whether you think you are already a pretty humble person, or you think you need lots of growth in the area of humility, here are six characteristics of a humble woman of God.

Have you ever needed to speak truth into a friend’s life, but feared their reaction too much to speak? In those moments I need to love my friends more than I fear them, and that I need to learn how to speak truth with gentleness and with the power of Scripture.

Maybe you’re not ashamed of your house. Maybe you’re ashamed of your body, your finances, your job, or your past. Whatever it may be, I want to warn you of the trap of pride that I fell into, point you back to Christ, and encourage you to find contentment in him. 

The why and how of memorizing Scripture—even though you can Google any verse you like.

As our expectations of what marriage with a Christian man should look like is slowly torn to bits and tossed to the wind, we can feel discouraged, angry, hopeless, bitter, and heartbroken. What do we do with these feelings? How do we bring back that love we had at the altar?

I am not a naturally patient person. Waiting for God to answer my prayers is painful. I want to learn to wait well by cultivating eyes to see God at work, hands ready for obedience, and a heart that is willing to learn. Will you join me?

What does it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit not only gives us the ability to understand Scripture, but He is also the One who enables us to obey it.

When we study the Bible, we may be tempted to take pride in our knowledge, practice, or ability. But if we only had our own talent to get us through Scripture, it would not be enough. The Holy Spirit not only helps us understand the Bible, but also convicts our hearts of sin and directly applies the Word to our hearts.

I have learned it is not a question of, “Is theology or good deeds more important?”, but rather, “Are you cultivating both?”

Do you regularly barrage yourself with self-condemnation? Here’s not only how we can combat such destructive self-talk, but also why those words of self-condemnation are wrong.

Before we begin learning how to study the Bible, we need to set our foundations. It is critical that we understand the purpose and characteristics of the Bible if we want to study it well. If we are to rightly delight in the Word of God, we must begin with a knowledge of it.

A friend has just unloaded her suffering to you, and as you take it in you feel like a deer in the headlights. What do I say? How do I begin to bring truth to this hurt? Here’s what to say when you don’t know what to say.

My husband jumped up from the floor and opened his arms to embrace me. “You’re pregnant, babe! We’re going to have a baby!” He wrapped me in his arms, and immediately my heart and mind both began racing. How can it be? How did it happen so easily? How am I pregnant so quickly? And then, the inevitable thought, What if I miscarry?

I wanted to find healing for my guilt. I knew many of the Bible verses that talked about forgiveness, but that didn’t feel like enough. No matter how many people told me that was a thing of past and I was forgiven, this guilt seemed to lay heavier on me each day. I poured my heart out to an older friend, and she hit me with a hard truth I did not expect: You don’t need to forgive yourself.

Is perfectionism perhaps your greatest weakness? Could it be the leading cause of your anxiety?

When we are in the midst of something very personal and specific, we can feel isolated by our pain as we look around and think, “There’s no one who could ever fathom all that I am going through.” In the midst of your loneliness, I want to offer you the hope God has shown me in first Christ, and also his church.