Read: Matthew 11: 28-30 (Message Version) Remember: Rebekah Lyons spoke clearly and pointedly when she said, “Most of carry chronic stress for so long we no longer recognize the weight of it. That’s why I call it grace when our bodies rebel… God wants us to reveal our weakness -- to recognize what traumatizes and exhausts us.” Reflect: I pray you took some time to find our scripture in the Message version today. My pastor has been leading us through these verses all summer in

Happy Monday morning, Soul Sisters. We are beginning the last third of our Freedom study today. We've completed 10 of our 15 weeks together, and I'm so grateful for what God has done in hearts and lives so far.... mine included. Two years ago, I saw the cover of "You Are Free" on the Facebook page of a friend of mine. She gave it a quick summary and encouraged friends to buy it and read it. It sounded like a book for me, so I did just that. When my book arrived, I devoured it

Friday, July 27th What a difficult balance we were charged with this week! Special thanks to our guest writers: Amanda Stephens, Jenny Eaton Cozby, and Andrea Breland. I have no doubt that their stories blessed your life in some way. But we all have stories - right!?! This life is hard, and challenges press in on every side. We have been encouraged to lean in to the brokenness those challenges create so that we can experience the grace and mercy of Christ ready to strengthen

Thursday, July 26th Ladies, today I want to get right to it. Today, I am even bypassing the familiar format that we have been following since we began our Freedom Study because today, I have asked my dear friend and our Soul Sister, Andrea Breland to write for us. She has poured her heart and soul into this writing today and surrounded her story with scripture and transparent and raw emotion. As you will see, her story seems unimaginable, yet there are others in this group gr

Wednesday, July 25th Read: Genesis 16: 1-13; Galatians 4: 21-28 Remember: “The dysfunction of this world will be tangible, again and again. We cannot escape it -- although we desperately try.” Reflect: Ladies, today I have asked Soul Sister, Jenny Eaton Cozby to share her current “story of grief” with you. Jenny openly shared earlier this year when we were studying, Draw the Circle. After reading it, I felt as if Jenny’s story might resonate with many of you during this part

Tuesday, July 24th Read: Psalm 30 Remember: “There will be pain in the night, but joy comes in the mourning. It’s the mourning process that releases our pain…. If we cannot grieve, we cannot be comforted. When we dull our pain, we dull our joy. When we numb our lows, we numb our highs. Today I asked my sister, Amanda Stephens, to share her thoughts on grief. She has known about the grieving process since she was very young. When I was 18 and she was 10 when we lost our daddy.

Monday, July 23rd Read Chapter 10 of You Are Free, Free to Grieve. Grief is a natural part of all our lives and yet it is one of the most difficult parts of our earthly journey. Loss of any kind–whether it's the loss of a treasured family heirloom; the end of a relationship, the termination of a job, an unfulfilled dream, or especially the death of a loved one, leaves an empty and painful void in our lives. As we grieve we may experience feeling lost, hopeless, and overwhelme

Friday, July 20th Well done this week Soul Sisters. Thank you for engaging in this week's topic of REST. I pray we all have a better understanding of what it means to rest in the Lord, both body and soul. Today, we will consider the questions at the end of the chapter. Take time to read back over scripture from the week and notes from the chapter while answering these questions for self discovery. 1. Are you tired? Worn out? So many of us run run, run, finding ourselves const

Read: Matthew 11: 25-30; Philippians 1:6 Remember: “If we are not free to rest, we will either burn out or the work will be about our agenda, not God’s. In a society of to-dos and goals and ambitions, the Father asks us to rest assured. He wants us to stop trying so hard to matter.” Reflect: In our Scripture today, Jesus says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I'm wondering if every one of us reading this devotion right now is weary an

Read: Galatians 4: 8-20 Remember: “The old covenant was about what we bring to Him: our annual offering, our covering of sin to become restored with God. The new covenant is all about what Jesus brings to us; His offering, His blood to forgive our sins, and His righteousness credited to us, making us right with God. God’s got this. He’s done the work, and we are free to rest.” Reflect: I have to say, the quote above is worth reading again and again. Jesus has done the work,