I am grateful for a pastor who preaches truth. Each week, I love the excitement in my heart to hear what message God has given him. I always walk away with practical application grounded in Biblical truth. But last week's sermon was even better than normal. His words invigorated my heart. I couldn't wait to share. I went to seminary thinking that I would work for a church or be full-time with my own writing/speaking ministry. I had no plans to marry a pastor. In fact, I didn't really have plans to get married period. My love for fitness and nutrition? I would brush it off as my hobby, as part of my testimony. But it was funny. No matter how many different jobs I went through to pay the bills in life's different seasons... I always went back to fitness. I constantly felt God leading me to pursue a fitness ministry full-time years before I was obedient to actually do it. As a former people pleaser, my biggest issue was that I didn't want to disappoint anyone - my seminary professors, pastors and other leaders in ministry who had mentored me. What would they think? As a former [...]

This week, I re-read the story of Mary and Martha. (Head to Luke 10:38-42 for a reminder.) I think any woman seeking to grow in her faith would hope to be Mary in this story - sitting at the feet of Jesus, soaking up His wisdom. However, if we are forced to look beyond the story and examine our own lives, many of us would find more Martha tendencies than we would care to admit. For example...have you ever been rushing to get out the door on Sunday morning because you were singing on the worship team....and skipped your quiet time to make rehearsal? Or have you ever found yourself in seasons where finding time to pray (other than meals & before bed with your kids) was non-existent, yet you somehow found time to teach Vacation Bible School, wash cars for a mission trip fundraiser and deliver advertising posters to local businesses about your church's upcoming women's conference? I could go on...but I think you get my point. Sometimes, we can get so busy doing things for Jesus that it distracts us from Jesus. Am I telling you not to serve? Absolutely not. Giving back to our churches through [...]