On the hard hills, it's a struggle to look up...in life and in running. I find myself not wanting to actually look at the hill...all I can manage to do is look down and see is one foot moving in front of the other. The hills are hard. Exhausting. Sometimes you want to sit...or quit...or turn around and go the other direction because it's easier. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. **Breathe.**
Sometimes...we're on this life-path...it's all safe and paved and predictable. Comfortable. All of a sudden, life halts our perfectly paved and planned-out journey and takes us for an unexpected turn down a rocky, rough, difficult, unpredictable path. We look at the path that we've been on...we look at the destination that we were headed for...and … Continue reading Unknown Paths
We all love a Christmas tree, all lit up, decorated...it smells wonderful and brings life to the Christmas season. That's what it represents...Life. Christ, and the new life that He brings to us. We all love posting and sharing pictures of our trees looking all pretty. Today I was taking my tree down...it was ugly … Continue reading What I learned from my dead Christmas tree…
I've been forgetting to look up lately. This morning on my run, listening to a song about God's faithfulness, I looked up and the sky was stunning. I had to stop and take a picture...even though pictures never do the real thing justice. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims … Continue reading Look Up
It's a battle down here, Father. I'm feeling anxious. I feel like I'm always battling. Things seen, things unseen, it feels like a constant struggle just to exist. You say rest and trust. Why is it so hard sometimes? When I focus on Truth I see clearly that I can rest and stop striving when … Continue reading The Best Kind of Struggle
 "Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable-if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise-dwell on these things." Philippians 4:8 I love how the Lord strings His truths together like lights on a wire. His Word is alive … Continue reading Grieving in the Lovely
I normally do really intense and in-depth studies of God's Word...if you've been in one of my small groups, you know this to be true. But lately, I keep sitting down at the table to where my Bible is flipped open in the Psalms and don't get any further. I've been rubbing the Psalms in … Continue reading The Rock
The negative thoughts take laps around my head... Each one racing to take first place... Consuming my brain space. Anxiety growing, Agitation growing. Round and round they go and go and go... Then, an intrusive, quiet whisper asks- "What is it that you are meditating on?" Thoughts stop mid-lap. I realize that I'm doing it … Continue reading Racing Thoughts, the Intrusive Whisper and Painful Obedience
God's peace is incomprehensible, and His peace is likened to a military guard that protects our hearts and minds from hostile invasion. His peace hems in and protects our hearts and minds that are so vulnerable.
I have the choice this year...this day...this minute...the choice of where to put my mind. Where to dwell, linger, what to meditate on. (It is a choice. It's my choice. It's an action, a putting or setting of my mind.) It's real easy to go negative, to allow my mind to dwell on someone else's … Continue reading Muddy Thoughts
Nicole Dotson 