Are you experiencing a difficult change? These four (free) bonus hidden devotionals are for you.

Chasing Blue Skies

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Kristen
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👋Hello from a Gen-X gal who's doing her best to

👋Hello from a Gen-X gal who's doing her best to keep up with social media, but who often finds herself a day late and a dollar short from what is the current "best social media practices."
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🎶Hello from a gal who's recap Spotify list for 2022 included artists who are country/gospel (Carrie Underwood), folksy (Noah Kahan), and orchestral composery (Harry Gregson-Williams--he wrote the soundtrack for The Gilded Age).⁠
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✍️Hello from a writer who likes to talk change and belonging and things that fall under that, like friendships.⁠
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📚Hello from the author of three (traditionally published) books called #girlmeetschange, #backroadstobelonging, and #whenchangefindsyou.⁠
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🇺🇸Hello from a former military wife who'll always consider military spouses some of her favorite people.⁠
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🥰Hello from a still-new Empty-Nester with three grown kiddos who are my delight upon delight, and who come home from college next week! (Merry Christmas to the hubs and me!)⁠
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❤️Hello from a gal who's still learning that she's loved for more than what she does but for who she is in Christ.⁠ (Hello, hallmark of an #enneagram2!)⁠
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🫶And hello from a gal who wants you to know you're mighty loved, too.⁠

#fridayintroductions
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"Angels from the realms of glory,⁠ wing your fli

"Angels from the realms of glory,⁠
wing your flight through all the earth;⁠
heralds of creation's story⁠
now proclaim Messiah's birth!⁠"⁠
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~James Montgomery, 1816 ⁠
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James Montgomery was born in Scotland to missionaries whose evangelical work took them to the West Indies. James lived in Ireland before moving to a seminary in England, and while in seminary, his parents died in the mission field. James spent his youth rather aimless, flunking out of seminary and remaining homeless for long stretches of time. ⁠
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James had only one real interest: writing poetry. While no one wanted to publish his works, an editor of an English paper hired him to write stories about the hardships of the Irish under English rule. James took the job and eventually became editor of that paper. He continued to write about social issues such as freedom for Ireland, and doing so landed him in an English prison not once but twice. ⁠
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He also took up his pen on behalf of the abolitionist movement and to protest the English practice of using children as chimney sweepers.⁠
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During this time, James began regularly reading his Bible, and it was his study of Scripture and his passion for justice that would culminate in writing hymns, including one beloved Christmas carol.⁠
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On Dec. 24th, 1816, the readers of his paper were surprised to find a more sedate editorial piece, a poem called "Nativity"—what we now know as "Angels from the Realms of Glory"—that told of the birth of a Savior for all people, no matter where they were born or what class they were born into. ⁠Eventually, the English powers-that-be would embrace this piece in its Anglican hymnals--and almost a hundred others penned by James.⁠
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I'm always interested in reading a good backstory, and I appreciate this one that testifies to the power found in not letting the beginning of a story define the ending--and to the power of the written word to speak to hearts today as much as it did long ago.⁠
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(📷️Second gorgeous photo by my gorgeous girl, Faith!)

My friend, @salenaduffy, said six ⁠words recentl

My friend, @salenaduffy, said six ⁠words recently that I haven't forgotten:⁠
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"God will finish what He started."⁠
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Our assurance during this Advent and Christmas season is that indeed, God will finish what He started. Jesus is proof that God says what He means and follows through on what He says.⁠
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So, whether you're staring down final exams or too-long to-do lists or an impossibly difficult task that leaves you too exhausted to even consider your Christmas decor, just do the next thing that needs doing. Say "never mind" to what isn't essential. At the end of the day, you have what it takes to keep going because God goes to infinite lengths to get you where you're supposed to be. Press forward and do not give up~God is with you and He will finish what He started.

“Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during har

“Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.” ⁠
~Joshua 3:15-16⁠
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When Joshua and all the Israelites started to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land as told in Joshua 3 of the Bible, the waters didn’t immediately part right in front of them as they had for their ancestors who’d crossed the Red Sea. At the Jordan, God dammed up the waters 20-30 miles upriver from the Israelites, so it took time for the water to stop flowing downstream. ⁠
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It took time for the Israelites to see that while they waited, God worked. Eventually their faith became sight, and they could see how God was moving on their behalf all along.⁠
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About this passage of Scripture, author @priscillashirer writes, “From your currant vantage point, you may not be able to see how God is working out His purposes in your life. You’ve gotten your feet wet. You’ve tried to believe. But life just seems to roll on like always before, oblivious to your prayers and to the faith you’ve placed in God’s ability to change things. But be convinced that even though God may be working ‘a great distance away,’ He is working. He hasn’t forgotten about you or His promises to you...the mighty hand of God’s powers is already at work on your behalf.” ~Priscilla Shirer, Awaken

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