Will You Say Yes? is a portion of a quote I read in Kate Battistelli’s book “The After Party of the Empty Nest,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 16 of Lent 2025 – March 20

I’m facing the empty nest as a single mom, and it’s scary. I never wanted to be in this stage alone, but that’s the hard truth. For months, I’ve tried to deny this stage is coming as sure as the sun rises each morning. I blocked it out of view. However, when Kate Battistelli contacted me and asked me to be her virtual assistant, I couldn’t hide from this fact any longer.

It’s my job to read this book so I can pull quotes from it for Kate’s graphics. In a way, I’ve been forced to read it though I’ve been scared to face the truth. The good news is that this book is giving me the hope I’m seeking, even as a single mom.

Will You Say Yes?

It’s been hard to look at the future with any hope in the past three years of trauma and hardship. That’s why it’s hard for me to say yes that the future could hold any hope for me once my children aren’t here as often.

The current status is this: my oldest son moved out last year, and that was a taste of the empty nest beginning. My middle son lives with me, but we’re like passing ships in the night because he works full-time in the afternoons and evenings. My daughter is with me the most as she does online school. However, she’ll start college in the fall, and I’ll be alone more than I have been in over 20 years, as a young, neglected wife.

Soon after my divorce in 2022, my counselor shared something important with me. He said, “This isn’t going to be easy for you to hear.” So he let me prepare myself. Then he said, “Your children are not your emotional support system.” He explained that as teenagers, they were all preparing to spread their wings and fly. I would need to depend on my friends for the support I needed, and let my children grow up without suppressing them. So far, all three have said I have done this fairly well. But because my children have been my main source of joy in my difficult life, it has been challenging to let them go the way I need to do.

The After Party of the Empty Nest

The last thing I was thinking about the empty nest is that it can be a party. More like a funeral, if you would have asked me a month ago. However, Kate’s warm, encouraging words are letting hope into my heart. She even has a chapter just for single moms. As I prepare her social media posts and read the content, I’m gently led forward in faith that things will be not just okay, but good, even while my nest empties. I’m grateful she’s showing me how I can celebrate some new things I hadn’t even considered before. That’s why it can feel like a party instead of a funeral.

I encourage you to get your own copy of The After Party of the Empty Nest today. If you aren’t in that stage, gift it to a mom whose senior is graduating this year. Perhaps order copies for a moms’ group at your church to help them prepare for this phase while their kids are in junior high. I know it will be a blessing to each woman who reads it and needs encouragement for this phase, just like I do.

Order your copy HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to share your thoughts about today’s quote in the comments below.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

It Wasn’t the Wall is a portion of a quote I read in Levi Lusko’s book “Blessed Are the Spiraling,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 15 of Lent 2025 – March 19

I wish this book had existed three years ago when I hit the worst wall of my life. It’s a book about hitting the proverbial wall and the potential to spiral downward into despair. But it’s more about seeing the possibilities ahead as we cling to faith in those hard moments.

I’m reading a preview copy of this book that releases April 1, and I encourage you to order your copy HERE.

I’m only through chapter 2 at the moment, and it’s speaking loud and clear to me. Here’s why.

It Wasn’t the Wall

I’ve told my pastors thank you for talking about the hard things of life in their sermons. Every year since I’ve been a member, they preach on hitting the wall, as Paul Scazzero talks about in the must-read book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Because the EHS courses are part of the spiritual formation track for people at my church, both of my pastors talk about the wall frequently.

A wall is not an everyday inconvenience. It’s something very challenging that shakes your faith, such as a death, divorce, tragedy, or major situation change. When you hit a wall, your faith doesn’t work like it used to do. As my pastors have said, 85 percent of people either bounce off the wall, try to go around it, or stay stuck. But God invites us to go through it on a path of self-reflection, grief, and personal growth. If we go through that painful process, we can be stronger on the other side of the wall and better equipped to love God and serve others.

I hit that wall in 2022 when divorce shattered my world. I’ve spent three years in the dark night of the soul, a concurrent theme often discussed in my church. My faith was shaken to the core, and it didn’t work the same way anymore. But I hung on through the spiritual disciplines, waiting to see some light in my path. Mostly, I saw the wall as an enormous obstacle that only God could remove when he deemed the time to be right.

Blessed Are the Spiraling

Levi Lusko hit his wall in the form of a midlife crisis. He was forced to slow down, accept his limits, and reconnect with God in new ways. Since I’m only in the beginning of the book, I know I’ll learn more as I keep reading. But I know that he has faced huge trials, such as the death of his daughter, losses in his ministry, and the FBI confirming threats on his life.

The quote before this one in the graphic shook me up:

How do you feel when you slam into the upward plane of a new phase?

Upward plane? As I said before, I have only seen the wall as a big obstacle. I didn’t often think about climbing up the wall, though I even wrote a popular devotion about this in 2021, right before my world fell apart.

Back to today’s quote. If I see the wall as a stair, that changes my perspective. A stair is meant to be climbed. If I bump into it and bloody my nose, I need to heal. But I shouldn’t stay stuck on the stairstep. I need to start climbing again.

I love that God doesn’t require us to climb walls or stairs in our own strength, especially when we are bloodied. Instead, he encourages us from David’s psalm:

“In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall” (2 Samuel 22:30).

This is the truth I’m pondering today, along with more quotes from Levi’s book:

• The gloomy mountain you now look at in fear and terror, once it is aflame with the glory of God, will transform before your eyes.
• There is significance in the spiral. It is not meaningless. The goal is to get closer to the center as you go around and around in smaller and smaller circles.
• You can view [transitions] as catalyzing forces preparing you for the coming attractions of joy and development.
• Round and round you are meant to go, tighter and tighter in smaller circles, toward what really matters. The worthless burning away, the Worthy remaining. And at the end of your journey, you will find not something, but Someone.
• In your life, as you face what seems to be a free-fall swan dive toward the bricks, believe that the death will lead to a resurrection.

Order your copy HERE.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to share your thoughts about today’s quote in the comments below.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

Building Connection is a portion of a quote I read in David Brooks’ book “How to Know a Person,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 14 of Lent 2025 – March 18

I purchased this book because my pastor referred to it several times in his sermons. It’s a well-written book based on research about how people crave more quality in relationships in our current culture, but don’t know how to get it.

I highlighted many passages in the Kindle version, and today I’m simply sharing one of them with you.

Building Connection in a Divided Culture

I wrote some posts about this topic back in the fall during election season. I had pondered what to say for months and thought it would be the right time to share my thoughts. I wanted to challenge fellow Christians to act like Christians rather than the world. I’m sharing an excerpt of one of my posts below.

Since kindergarten, I’ve had friends who are on the other side of the aisle from me. Friends with whom I do life, like sharing meals and attending events together. Some of these friendships have lasted for decades.

Lately, I’ve been asking myself why this is true because it certainly seems unique in our current culture.

I can’t speak to why my friends chose me, but I can say why I chose them:

• They make my life richer, more interesting, and far more beautiful.
• These friends stretch and expand my viewpoints.
• They show me how God is working in their lives, which is sometimes vastly different yet often quite similar to how he works in mine.
• My friends teach me how childhood experiences, religious backgrounds, family dynamics, and socioeconomic settings inform their decisions and shape mine too.
• They challenge my tendency toward black-and-white thinking and help me see the amazing nuances of God’s love and grace.

I don’t normally discuss politics with them, because I tend to say really stupid things that I deeply regret later. However, as I grow in wisdom, I try to practice curiosity rather than getting furious about stark differences of opinion.

I’ve realized that there is a low chance I will change their opinion, and vice versa. So I focus more on enjoying their company, celebrating their humanity, and as Paul said in 1 Cor. 9:22 NLT:

“Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.”

The most important thing I talk about with them is faith. I also look for open windows to do this, rather than preaching at them. Faith is what can unite us, while politics tend to divide us.

Building Connection in Three Ways

I like how David Brooks, who converted from agnosticism to Christianity in his adult life (read his testimony here), simplifies building connection into three statements or attitudes:

• I respect you
• I’m curious about you
• We’re in this together

I need much growth in this area of building connections. However, I can look back and see how God has grown me in this area over the past few decades. That fact gives me hope that with God’s help, I can become more loving, compassionate, understanding, and accepting in the future. As I put these statements into practice when I meet people different from me, I will be more like Jesus, and that’s my goal.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to reflect on a special gift God has given you and let me know about it in the comments.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

The Dad Who Danced with His Daughter is a portion of a quote I read in Abby McDonald’s book “Surrendering Certainty,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for only five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 13 of Lent 2025 – March 17

I’m proud to be the book launch manager for Surrendering Certainty, Abby McDonald’s upcoming book. She sent me a preview copy I’m happy to be reading now. You can learn more about the book and join the team for the launch HERE.

The context for this quote is Zephaniah 3:17 NIV:

“The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

When she was a tween, Abby heard four words from a spiritual leader that affected her deeply: “You can’t please God.” This phrase had a negative impact on her faith. God worked to redeem that misunderstanding in her life. She says,

“My journey to see God as someone who delighted in me was a slow and sometimes painful one. When you haven’t confided in God in years, it takes some major mindset shifts to bring you to a place where it feels natural to do so.”

After her first child was born, God wooed her back to him. That’s where today’s quote originates – “Instead of being the distant Father I couldn’t please, he became the Dad who danced with his daughter.” What a beautiful word picture!

The Dad Who Danced with His Daughter

One of the reasons my healing journey has been so difficult in the past three years is that I was already so close to God before my life fell apart. Many people find or rediscover God after divorce, but I was already super close to him. You can listen to my journey of drawing close to God the Father, then God the Spirit, then God the Son in my friend Eric’s interview with me HERE. In it, you will learn why Song of Songs 8:3 was so meaningful to me.

The intense pain that God allowed in my life felt like such betrayal after being so close to him. As a lifelong victim of abuse, the pain God allowed in my life felt custom-fit to hurt me in my most sensitive areas. Only someone who knew me very well would understand why the hurts felt so customized. That’s how abusers act – they prey on your vulnerability and intimacy, then hurt you intentionally in the most tender places. So my mind and heart have been hijacked by those relationship dynamics by people with evil intent.

Trusting the Dad Who Danced with His Daughter

In this recovery stage, I’m learning to trust God again. From decades of being a Christian, and also from reading the Bible all the way through 18+ times, I know without doubt that God’s unchanging character is nothing like that of an abuser. However, what I know in my head to be unquestionably true has to move to my battered heart, and that will require time.

Trust always takes time to rebuild. I need to dare to trust again one day at a time in my relationship with God. I want to trust him as a loving father delighting so much in me as his daughter that he rejoices over me with singing. I’m thankful that Abby’s book pointed me toward that beautiful picture upon which I can focus as I take daily steps to trust him more each day.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to reflect on a special gift God has given you and let me know about it in the comments.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!

The Power of Perseverance is a portion of a quote I read in “Strength in the Storm,” and I’m pondering it with you today.

For Lent 2025, I’ll be writing new blog posts every day. I’m writing for just five unedited minutes on a quote of the day to deepen our faith in this Lenten season.

Day 12 of Lent 2025 – March 16

Strength in the Storm is a compilation book of stories from several Christian women, many of whom I count as friends. In the chapter “Forged Through the Fire,” Andrea Nyberg expounds on James 1:2-4 NIV.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,  whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

She says that when we are going through trials, people attempt to console us with platitudes such as, “Don’t worry, it’s all going to be okay! Just keep praying and stay positive. God’s got this!” She admits that she’s been both the recipient and the reciter of those well-intended statements.

But then our quote of the day comes in. When she faced trials, those platitudes didn’t help at all. However, allowing the testing of her faith helped her develop perseverance. Andrea focused on God’s desired character development in her in her suffering.

She writes, “Joy is found in choosing to have hope beyond our circumstances. It is recalling the times God has been faithful before and choosing to believe He will be faithful again.”

She quotes Timothy Keller in “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering,”

“Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power than you can imagine.”

I was truly encouraged by the whole collection of stories in Strength in the Storm – I highly recommend you get your own copy HERE.

The Power of Perseverance

In my intense suffering in the past three years, the last thing I wanted to focus on was more character development. I had already invested in over a decade of counseling, plus countless books, seminars, and videos to overcome codependency and a lack of boundaries. I had worked hard on forgiveness every day. After divorce and ridding my life of all abusive people, I was ready to start a new and better chapter. That was my focus.

However, much more suffering followed that was out of my control, and none of it was my fault. I didn’t want to learn about perseverance – I wanted relief from the searing pain. That’s a feeling reinforced by our pain-averse culture.

Yet God set me apart for his glory. I did not turn to the things of the world to comfort me in my grief. I learned to lean more heavily on the Lord as I persevered and continued to trust God had a purpose in my suffering, though I couldn’t see it (and still can’t see it fully today). The language of lament became my most common prayer, and I accepted the invitation to take my anger to God rather than hold it in. In my seasons of depression, I remembered to hold on for my kids’ sake and for the story I’m trusting God to write in my future.

The Perseverance Payoff

I can look back now and see that my perseverance has paid off. As I’ve kept to my rhythms, I’ve stayed true to myself while staying tethered to God. I don’t have guilt or regret from making self-medicating decisions post-divorce, which was only possible because I allowed God to be my portion. My relationship with God has become deeper, more authentic, and more seasoned due to perseverance. I can also see how God is using this character development trial to help me minister to others from a richer place of vulnerability and affirmation.

This character growth could only happen over time, and it couldn’t be rushed. Most of it happened in the dark, where growth is slow. Yet as I’ve learned from growing seeds indoors, some seeds only sprout in the dark. In my current season when the sprouts of hope are just pushing through the surface, I can finally say “Thank You” to God with a genuine heart. The tiny leaves of broccoli, lettuce, and spinach in my garden bed are a living picture of the reward of perseverance.

Join me again tomorrow for another reflection on a different quote. I encourage you to reflect on a special gift God has given you and let me know about it in the comments.

Find all my additional resources for Lent on this page.

Are You Looking for a Book Launch Manager or Virtual Assistant?

If you’re launching a book in 2025 or beyond, be sure to book a call with me HERE to discuss your book launch. I’ve had over 50 clients since 2022, and I’d love to speak with you soon. I’m also taking on new VA clients. You can learn more and book a call with me on THIS PAGE.

If you liked this post, I would appreciate your shares on social media!

Also, if you make a purchase from any of the links on this post, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

I send my weekly newsletter Tea on Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. Central time every Tuesday.  I write an exclusive devotion for you each week that I share with you first.

To receive the newsletter, please subscribe below. I can’t wait to share personally with you each week!