Bible | Grit and Grace Life

A Modern Day Esther: Finding My Voice Through a Hero in the Bible

It was kind of like a modern-day beauty pageant, minus the talent section. It required no essay entrance exam or interview portion. There were truly only two necessary attributes to be invited into King Xerxes harem—beauty and virginity. That was it. Young girls from every province of the kingdom were screened, gathered, and brought into the harem based solely on these two qualities. Meet Esther. She’s an unlikely hero of the bible, and I like that about her. I get her. Even though thousands of years separate us (and, you know, one of us was royalty and the other not), she and I are not very different. Her lessons are my lessons, our hearts connected. It would be easy to dismiss her […]

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Bible Verses on Love from the Grit and Grace Team

By The Grit and Grace Team / Faith

Love! The word itself sends a warm, tingly feeling up our spines. What joy it is to love and be loved! There’s even an entire day of the year dedicated to this all-consuming phenomenon. But love can also be one of life’s greatest lessons. Wouldn’t it be much easier if there were guidelines that showed what love really is, how it can be accepted and paid forward? Well, we’re in luck, friends. The Bible covers it all, from loving God, to loving our families and our neighbors. The Grit and Grace Life team share their favorite verses on this special subject. Love Is the Whole Point I remember when I first starting living for Jesus. I had “been a Christian” for a

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Can We Know God Loves Us?

By Darlene Brock / Faith

I have walked with God for a good many years. I met him as a child, ran from him as a teen, surrendered to him as a young adult as he relentlessly pursued me, and I have sought to follow him since. There have been seasons filled with faith, believing every promise, and feeling so confident in my purpose and the warmth of his presence. I have also had seasons when I felt as if I was drowning in heartbreak, despair, and discouragement, wondering if he was even there or heard the cry of my heart. Wondering as I have believed if God loves us. In the discouraging times, when God felt so absent from my life, I immediately thought that I

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Words Are Powerful—Here Are The Best Ones to Believe About Yourself

By Allison McCormick / Faith

I wish I could take back the words—the silent unconscious tape that plays endlessly in my mind. Push each syllable, every consonant, backward, and hide them from my conscious thought. Unfortunately, they have been spoken. The recording has been played and repeated. Words are powerful, and their power has taken up residence in the tender parts of my heart. I do not fully understand how it happened, but at some point in my journey, I became convinced that each negative, shame-filled comment was true. I began to wrestle with the woman that gazed at me in the hallway mirror. She had plans, convinced she was made for a purpose, an image of her Father. Yet, I settled for the false truths inspired

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This Is How I Found Out Who I Am

By Amanda-Lee Pitzer / Faith

I love Sundays. After church I take my son down the street to our favorite farm. He throws on his boots, grabs his horse, and tacks her up. He knows exactly what he is doing and how to do it. He talks to her as he works, adoration in his eyes. Once she is all set, he takes her into the ring, hops on, and begins warming her up with a few laps. The barrels are set up, and he begins walking her through as he reminds her of the task at hand. He comes to a halt, and his instructor steps away and lets him have at it. Sometimes there is frustration as he drops the wrong hand from the reins

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When Did Caring for the Earth God Created Become Political?

By Kristen Bailey / Life & Culture

I’ve been obsessed with the oceans and conserving them since the first time I watched “The Little Mermaid.” Paddling out with dolphins and sea turtles just solidified my obsession with the sea. Growing up in a beach town in Florida, I studied environmental journalism. The week of Christmas, I strolled the beaches of Maui near “Pu’u Keka’a” or Black Rock. The islands of Molokai and Lanai slept in the distance with sailboats between us. A few clusters of white coral rolled up toward my feet in the sand. The crowds still hung back from visiting the islands due to the pandemic, leaving most of Maui to myself. There in the greenery that separated the walking path from the shoreline, I saw it.

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Bible Verses From the Grit and Grace Team on Perseverance

By The Grit and Grace Team / Faith

Perseverance is one of those terms we learned in elementary school when it came time for the lesson about character traits. When we’re small, the sound of the word—not to mention the length of it, a whopping 12 letters—resounded in our minds. We imagined staying strong and pushing through difficult homework or a race during physical education class. As adults, perseverance takes on an entirely new meaning, and an entirely new concept of what it means to be strong in adversity. When life seems to be weighing on us just a little bit too much and we need a push to make it to the other side of whatever it may be, the Bible offers an ample number of verses for encouragement.

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How to Read the Bible When Sorrow Overwhelms You

By Heather Jonsson / Faith

On a recent Sunday night, I collected a few weekend photos, hoping to post about the needed fusion of fun and rest, community and solitude. Really, I thought it was charming. But then, in the blink of an eye, a phone call shattered this neatly curated carousel of social media photos. As I have tenderly held onto grief these past few days, the words from a familiar hymn came to mind: When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. Horatio Spafford’s poetic words about grief remain unparalleled. Many of you are probably familiar with the heartbreaking story. After losing

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Mary: A Woman of Honor, Grit, and Grace

By Darlene Brock / Faith

Honor is the respect, trust, and confidence given to a person, earned by the character exhibited through the life they lived—the outgrowth of living a life of grace. Not easily gained nor easily bestowed. There is one lady that exhibited these qualities in life, one that holds a place of honor in every Christmas Nativity. Sitting calmly aside an infant in a manger placed in a stable filled with animals, I’m not really sure today’s depiction is realistic. If you had birthed a baby in essentially a barn, amidst straw and animals, you probably would not be perfectly coiffed. Joyous but weary, not only from the long trip you made nine months pregnant abreast a donkey, but also suffering through a natural

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God's Christmas gifts: new life (part 1)

What God Wants to Give Us for Christmas: New Life (Part 1)

By Allison McCormick / Faith

Christmas is days away and I am so excited about sharing this special day with my husband and family. The year started as the previous. A time of anticipation, yet each day filled with the comfortable routine of the past. Until a burning pain in my chest turned my normal into a test of trust. I had felt the pain before and knew I needed to get to the hospital. Physicians quickly realized the stent placed to repair a blockage in my heart had failed. Surgery was required. I kissed my husband, climbed onto the gurney, and was whisked away to the surgical suite. Life Is a Gift! Several hours later, I woke to the chirping and pinging of machines. One was

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little girl holding up a colorful construction paper turkey for thanksgiving as a sweet gesture amid the mayhem of motherhood

Mommas, Allow Thanksgiving to Nourish your Soul

By Heather Jonsson / Motherhood

Mayhem ran amuck as I scurried to get my children ready for an appointment. I barked orders to my older children while attempting to subdue my toddler, who gleefully ran away from me naked as a jaybird. “Are you brushing your teeth?” I yelled up the stairs, still struggling to put a diaper on my son, which was about as easy as wrestling an alligator. When he was finally dressed, I popped him on my hip to deter any further escape, and hurried upstairs to check on my 5 and 6 year olds. Do you think they were obediently dressed and ready for the day? Nope, of course not. In normal 5-year-old fashion, the toys I had neatly put away the night

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man with arm around woman, both with crestfallen faces

Making Peace with the Unexpected Grief of Miscarriage

By Ashley Johnson / Motherhood

The roses I received for Valentine’s Day sat withered on my countertop for weeks. My eyes stung every time I looked at them, but I couldn’t seem to throw them away. It was the only tangible evidence I had from my pregnancy that ended too soon. A life that I fell in love with and cherished—more than I ever knew was possible. Those roses looked so different when they were presented to me. Peach, with hints of green. Subtle and lovely. The tightly bound buds were delivered to me by the cutest little hands, purchased by bigger, quieter hands. I’ll never forget the equally eager smiles. That bouquet held so much promise of beauty. The perfect representation of the new life growing

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This Medical Mission Trip Miracle Will Restore Your Faith

By Katelynn Boot / Faith

When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself. But unsuccessfully—someone saw him, and the word got around. Soon, a lot of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was. When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick. Toward evening, the disciples approached him. “We’re out in the country, and it’s getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper.” But Jesus said, “There is no need to dismiss them. You give them supper.” “All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said. Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then, he had the people

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god loves all of me even my messy armpit hair

Does God Love All of Me—Even My Messy Armpit Hair?

By Caroline Beidler / Faith, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) It was after my three-year-old daughter’s unsolicited observation that I realized how much God loves all of me—even the messier bits. “What’s under your armpit, mom?” she asked me from the back seat of our minivan. I’d been smooshed between two toddlers for days on highways and back country roads. Memories of the car salesman saying that vans are “roomy” and “give ample leg room” flashed before my mind like some high school prank. I felt like a clam in a slow cooker. We were in and out of Airbnb‘s and survived long nights with extended family (one of our kids doesn’t sleep well traveling) and a handful of states. We hurdled through

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To the Christian Woman With a Crooked Past

By Meaghan Dawson / Faith

As I sat in that stuffy, little room listening to the woman on stage, I looked around at the other women—some nodding along, some with eyes glistening with unshed tears—all with rapt attention. I listened to her testimony, heard her words, walked through her journey with the Lord. And with a bitter inward sigh, I thought to myself, “That’s it? That’s the best you’ve got?” Her story, it was beautiful. Her faith, it was unwavering and strong through the peaks and valleys of her life. I should have felt inspired by her testimony. I knew it took courage and strength for her to sit up there, in front of her peers, and bare her soul in words as personal as any words

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Where Can I Find the Purpose of Life?

By Caroline Beidler / Purpose, Audio Articles

(Listen to the audio version of this article here.) It started when I was 19: a sudden heaviness in my lungs and edginess I couldn’t shake. As soon as I left home, the weight of the world’s toughest questions began needling me like a three-year-old. The world’s pressures of womanhood becoming equally as frustrating. Suffocating. I’d lay in bed at night in angst and visualize scenes captured by the Hubble telescope: a galaxy, a multitude of galaxies, that speak to the infinite. I’d think about the world and its enormity. The endless possibilities. And then I’d ponder this strange reality, in contrast: the one where I, a woman, had a little path to find. A way. A purpose. I couldn’t help but

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Ask Dr. Zoe – Coping With Anxiety Biblically

By Dr. Zoe / Ask Dr. Zoe

‘Coping With Anxiety’ Asked: I recently realized the extent to which I have struggled with anxiety all my life. What are some healthy, Biblical coping mechanisms I can use when anxiety and panic set in? Dr. Zoe Answered: Dear Coping With Anxiety, What I love about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is that it is completely Biblical. The Bible says, and modern CBT research has proven, that getting control over your thoughts is the best and most efficacious treatment for anxiety (and depression). The Bible tells us whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about those things and the God of peace will be with you

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