Letting Your Loved Ones Discover Their Need for God

by Barb Roose | | 5 comments

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One Sunday afternoon, my friend, whom I’ll call Leah, called in tears over her adult children. Leah spent large sums of money, time, and tears trying to help her kids, but their reckless life choices kept her up at night stressed out and scared for their future.

Leah struggled with what I call “secondhand worry.” This happens when we suffer the effects of worry because we’re trying to carry the load that someone should be responsible and accountable for managing themselves. 

If you can relate to Leah, you know that this is a difficult place to be. When we wear someone else’s worry, it can wear us out! So, how do we get out of God’s way? Do we trust

When Your Enemies Make Life Hard

by Barb Roose | | 5 comments

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One of the frustrating tensions of the Christian life is Jesus’ command to love our enemies. Even more, Jesus teaches us to even pray for those who hassle us. Does Jesus’ command ignore healthy boundaries or our hurt feelings? Not at all!

In 2 Samuel 16, there was a man named Shimei who was related to the former King Saul, who’d died in battle. Shimei carried a grudge against now King David. During an angry outburst, Shimei threw rocks at David and his entourage while screaming that David was a murderer and scoundrel. That’s awkward, right? Imagine how David must have felt as Shimei yelled insults while the other Israelites came out of their houses and, no doubt, heard

Don’t Worry, God Wins

by Barb Roose | | 6 comments

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On my social media, it feels like I’m seeing a growing wave of anti-God and anti-Bible comments. In our post-Pandemic world, media outlets and pollsters confirm an increasing number of empty seats and a rise in the number of people who no longer believe in a sovereign God or that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

While we may look around and feel the decline of faith in our country, you may wonder if God is in heaven wringing His hands. Is He worried that His plan for humanity is falling apart? Is God concerned that He might be considered obsolete in our rebellious world?

Today’s truth in Psalm 2 reveals God’s response to our world’s repeated attempt to

Getting Spiritually Unstuck

by Barb Roose | | 5 comments

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On his way home from school, a young Russian boy noticed a lamb trapped head down in a drainage ditch. He went home and asked his mother to come back and help him get the stranded animal free. Azieva Radima went back to the trench with her son. As he worked to free the lamb, she pulled out her camera to capture the ordeal. It was a pretty good size lamb and the young man managed to pull the animal out of the narrow opening. Then, the freed lamb hopped away.

But three hops later, it dove headfirst right back into the ditch.

Millions of people around the world have laughed at Radima’s viral video about the lamb that immediately

Celebrating Your Security in Your Eternity

by Barb Roose | | 3 comments

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On a layover in Dallas, I settled into a seat to enjoy some chocolate frozen yogurt with chocolate-peanut butter candies on top. As I scooped the last bite of my treat, a gentleman sitting next to me asked how long our flight was delayed. I had to listen carefully to understand his Mexican-infused English. After I answered his question, he wanted to keep talking. Now, when one is in the airport, there are lots of topics that people can discuss. Usually, it’s our destination, travel nightmare stories or family. However, this man wanted to talk about something different. He wanted to talk about death.

He grabbed one of the two cell phones sitting in front of him to show

What’s Under God’s Giving Tree?

by Barb Roose | | 4 comments

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How do you arrange your Christmas gifts under the tree? After all, there are multiple strategies that must be considered! If you’ve got “shakers” in your family, you likely hide their gifts at the bottom of the pile. If you’ve got a “Snoopy,” like my kids, you probably keep those gifts undercover in a location that only Nancy Drew could find.

During my childhood, I described my Mom’s Christmas strategy as “Shock, Awe and Squishy.” She’d place my most-longed-for gift in front of the tree, usually unwrapped. Mom hovered by with her camera to capture the enraptured look on my stunned face.

Then, it was time for the squishy gifts. These were the lumpy, soft-wrapped packages that showed up every

Your Thanksgiving Love Challenge

by Barb Roose | | 4 comments

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A month after my dad died, my mom and I showed up to serve at our local shelter for un-housed individuals. We figured that serving others would help us navigate our grief, but I was uncomfortable because I worried about how I’d keep up conversations with the guests.

When we arrived, I gazed longingly over at the volunteers who stood behind the plexiglass and chafing dishes in their paper hats and plastic gloves. No awkward conversations or uncomfortable emotions, they simply scooped the food and sent the people on their way. As I settled at our assigned table, I knew that my fear of being uncomfortable may block me from seeing the God-potential of meeting new people and getting

Are You Obeying God with a Bad Attitude?

by Barb Roose | | 15 comments

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“Fine, God, I’ll do it!” After days of arguing with God about why He would ask me to go to the hospital to visit someone that I didn’t like, I finally went. As I rode in the elevator with a “I’m-a-good-Christian-woman” look on my face, there was nothing godly about what was simmering on the inside. I was madder than a millennial without a cellphone power cord. As I walked down the hallway, frustrated words escaped in a furious whisper, “God, why me? I really don’t want to do this.”

Can you relate? When’s the last time that you had a negative attitude to living out some aspect of your faith?

You resist forgiveness because you don’t think that it’s

Three Things to Do When You Find Yourself Judging Others

by Barb Roose | | 3 comments

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I shook the evidence of an addiction in front of a loved one’s face. In my fearful pursuit of confirmation, I weaponized the facts with cutting words and unkind opinions. While I had a right to be angry about the situation, I was completely wrong in how I addressed the struggle. Like a vengeful judge, I banged a self-righteous gavel atop my loved one’s heart until I felt like I’d gotten my point across. While I repented and apologized later, God used that terrible day to convict my heart of prejudicial thoughts and behaviors that often led to judging and thinking poorly of others.

God never calls us to give unconditional approval of sinful behavior. Yet harboring or communicating

God Knows How to Take Care of You

by Barb Roose | | 19 comments

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For years, I struggled with the anxious “what if’s,” so my solution was to buy lots of extras of anything and everything. My goal was to be prepared for any uncomfortable or uncertain situation that came my way. In fact, I had a magic three-word phrase that gave me permission: just in case. As I accumulated my just-in-case items like extra toiletries, kids’ clothes or snacks, I found a sense of security in those stockpiles. In fact, those extras propped up the illusion that I had control over my life. Yet, I didn’t actually have control, I just had a closet that was full of stuff and a heart that was full of anxiety and fear.

When

Every Little Bit Matters

by Barb Roose | | 4 comments

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“Daddy, why do you do that every day?”

After working his 12-hour shift, one of my dad’s first stops after work was to drop his spare pocket change into a large cardboard Tootsie Roll bank on his dresser. As a little kid, it was one of my favorite moments each day. Sometimes, he’d let me drop a few coins through the slot and he’d smile as the metal coins clinked together. Periodically, he’d remind me why he made that coin drop each day: “I’m saving for summertime, sweetheart.”

We only went on a few family vacations during my childhood, but my parents always made sure that we’d visit the large amusement park near our home once or twice a summer.

Don’t Let the World Hold You Down

by Barb Roose | | 9 comments

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One summer, my grandmother placed a book on top of my head and ordered me to start walking. I’d had a growth spurt that summer and my grandmother often remarked that she never wanted me to be tall like her. As an unusually tall Southern-born, African-American woman, my grandmother grew up at a time when shorter, smaller black women were deemed less threatening and more employable. Even though times had changed, my grandmother was still wary of the world that I would grow up in. She told me, “If you’re going to be tall, then you need to learn how to hold your head up high.”

I spent that summer walking back and forth in my grandmother’s living room

Letting Go of Envy

by Barb Roose | | 13 comments

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During my divorce, I withdrew from a few of my longtime friends. These precious women had stood by my side throughout years of difficulty and pain. They were my people. Yet, I pulled away.

In that painful season, the “green-eyed monster” of envy was eating me alive. I wept and admitted to my counselor that I was envious that my friends were still married to their husbands while mine walked away. It hurt to watch them enjoy the empty nest season with their spouses while I was starting a new season of life alone.

During that tough time, envy seeped into other areas, too. On social media, I dreaded seeing pictures of couples celebrating anniversaries or vacations. I struggled through

Skydiving with Jesus

by Barb Roose | | 14 comments

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During a Monday morning planning meeting, I was given two choices: pet a tarantula or jump out of an airplane. I picked jumping out of an airplane because I am that afraid of spiders! Which one would you choose?

The next morning, I drove across my home state with two co-workers to go skydiving. As I passed the highway exit near my hometown, I considered giving my parents a call. However, wisdom, or maybe self-preservation, prevailed. I figured that if I didn’t die skydiving, my mother would surely kill me to keep me from jumping out of the plane.

After I arrived, the training staff taught us the basics of how to jump and how parachutes worked. I appreciated the

Loving Others Well During Hard Conversations

by Barb Roose | | 11 comments

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A ministry leader contacted me about someone on our volunteer team who had fallen into sin due to a personal decision. It seemed to me that the best way to handle it was to send an email saying: “Hey, you know that’s not good. Stop doing that. Get it together.” But rather than shoot off an email with threats or requiring a behavior change, I set up a face-to-face meeting. I sat on my sofa and asked the person a series of questions that conveyed I cared about what was going on in her life, not just the situation.

Over the years, God has taught me that my first responsibility is to love, not finger-pointing or judgment. The goal

Relieving the Stress of Your Uncertainty

by Barb Roose | | 7 comments

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Remember when television shows used to have cliffhanger episodes at the end of each season? There were infamous cliffhangers like Who shot JR? Would Ross marry Rachel? I remember impatiently waiting and wondering all summer long to find out the answers during the fall season premiere.

We have streaming media these days, so we no longer have to wait for television shows, but our lives still have cliffhangers, don’t they? Times when we’re waiting on God to relieve the stress and pressure of our uncertainty:

God, can you just tell me if my mom will survive her cancer?

God, when will we get on the other side of this financial hardship?

God, will I ever meet the person who will love me

Letting Go of Rejection

by Barb Roose | | 7 comments

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When Lara was taken by ambulance to the hospital for a suspected stroke, her husband called her adult daughter to let her know. Lara’s daughter said that she’d heard about the stroke but she wasn’t coming to the hospital. A few months later, Lara was at the grocery store and saw her daughter pushing a cart down the same aisle. As soon as her daughter looked up and saw Lara, the daughter wheeled her cart around and went the other direction.

As Lara wept in deep heartache, she wondered, where did I go wrong? Why doesn’t she want me to be a part of her life?

Rejection. It is so painful, isn’t it? Even if you know why someone ended

One Christ, Many Colors

by Barb Roose | | 26 comments

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Close your eyes for a moment and picture who you will see in heaven. Perhaps you’ll see the face of that beloved grandma who prayed for your salvation or the women from your Bible study. You know who else you’ll see in heaven? Jesus, loving people from all different colors and cultures, many who will look nothing like you. Yet, in eternity we’ll stand unified worshipping God together and proclaiming His name with one voice.

If we’re going to worship God with one voice for all eternity, what is keeping us from worshipping and serving God with that kind of unity today?

One of the most uncomfortable barriers to our unity as believers in Christ is the topic of race.