I was doing everything in my power to get a different job, and from what I was told, I was doing everything right. I was leveraging my connections. I was receiving great references from my previous and current bosses. I was preparing for interviews for hours on end by studying practice questions and researching online. But it still wasn't enough. I was still told "no" seven times. I even had one hiring manager tell me, "Kristen, there was nothing more you could have done. You did everything right on your end...it just wasn't the best fit."
Read MoreLet me ask you a few questions. If something were to happen to you, what would you want people to say about your life? How would you want to have impacted the people around you? What kind of legacy do you want to leave? Unfortunately, I feel like we don’t think about these questions enough. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the things on earth that demand so much of our attention. Whether it’s trying to get ahead in our career, checking things off our to-do list, buying all the things we want, or scrolling through social media and comparing ourselves to the people in the pictures…are those the things you want to see when you look back on your life and think about how you spent your time?
Read MoreI was reading back through one of my journals this morning, and as I was, I came across a prayer. It was a prayer I heard Lysa TerKeurst pray on a podcast she appeared on as a guest. And I remember loving the prayer so much when I heard for the first time that I set an alarm on my phone to go back and write it down when I got out of the car.
Read MoreSince my boyfriend and I started dating, he typically drives when we’re going somewhere. Now, if I’m being honest, I’m kind of weird when I’m in the car with other people. On one hand, I like to be in the passenger seat. I’m great at DJ-ing, getting the driver’s food ready after we’ve gone through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru, and making sure the navigation app is up and running (because apparently my sense of direction alone is not trustworthy). I enjoy being the passenger. But on the other hand, I also have an issue with not being in control, so I don’t handle it well when I’m not driving.
Read MoreIf I’m being honest, the word “contentment" has become one of my least favorite words in the English language over the past few years. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me to just be content in the Lord and then He would give me what I’m waiting for, I could probably retire comfortably to Bora-Bora by the time my 35th birthday came around.
Read MoreI want to tell you a story about one of the girls on the basketball team I coach. We'll call her Anna (for the sake of privacy). Anna is one of our starters and does so much to help out our team. She's great at stealing the ball. She hustles. She's aggressive. And she's a rebounding MACHINE. However in our first five games, she didn't score very much, which frustrated her.
Read MoreHave you ever found yourself asking God this question: “Lord, how can any good come from this pain I’m dealing with?” Maybe you follow up the question saying things like, “I thought You loved me. Why are you allowing me to go through this immense pain? Why don’t you intervene right now? Why don’t you take this struggle away from me?”
Read MoreAnswered prayers are one of the greatest things we have to be thankful for. There’s nothing like the feeling you get when God finally answers a praying you’ve been praying for weeks, months, or even years. But as I’ve been following Jesus for the past two decades, I’ve learned that most of the time, God doesn’t answer your prayers in the way and the timing you expect Him to.
Read MorePeace is something we all crave, but a lot of times I don’t think we realize it’s peace that we’re looking for. We feel uneasy. We feel tired. We worry. We wonder. We wrestle with unrest. We are juggling all the things that are the opposite of peace.
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